In 1993, Cameron Diaz was a 21-year-old model with zero professional acting experience when she walked into the audition for The Mask. Her casting is widely considered one of the greatest “happy accidents” in Hollywood history, as she was originally only looking for a minor background role.
The production team had been searching for months to find the perfect “Tina Carlyle.” Director Chuck Russell had initially considered several established names and even met with Anna Nicole Smith, but he felt something was missing.
According to Russell, he saw Diaz’s 8x10 headshot in a pile on the casting director’s desk. Despite being told she was just a model with no credits, he insisted on bringing her in. He later remarked that she was the only person who had the right “instant likeability” and “intelligence” for the role.
Because she was an unknown, the studio (New Line Cinema) was extremely hesitant to cast her. Diaz had to go through a grueling process. She was called back roughly a dozen times over several weeks to prove she could handle the role. She was eventually paired with Jim Carrey for a screen test. Russell noted that Carrey actually performed better during his scenes with Diaz, confirming their immediate chemistry. Diaz later admitted that the stress of the process was overwhelming. She told Entertainment Weekly that she was so nervous she couldn’t eat or sleep and actually developed an ulcer during the audition period.
Director Chuck Russell was so convinced that Diaz was the only one for the part that he reportedly threatened to quit the film if the studio didn’t hire her. The studio finally relented just seven days before filming began.
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