Diaz was born in San Diego, California. Her second-generation Cuban-American father, Emilio Diaz, worked as a foreman for an oil company, and her mother, Billie Early (who has English, German and Cherokee Native American ancestry), worked as an exporting agent. Diaz attended Long Beach Polytechnic High School which was the same high school as rapper Snoop Dogg, they also went to the school at the same time. During her school days, she was called Skeletor by her classmates because she was so thin.

At age 17, she began her career as a fashion model. Diaz signed with top modeling agency, Elite Model Management. After graduating from high school, she went to work in Japan and met video director Carlo de la Torre. On her return to America, she moved in with him. For the next few years, her modeling took her around the world, working for contracts with major companies. She modelled for designers such as Calvin Klein and Levi's. She also graced the cover of the July 1990 issue of Seventeen magazines.

At the age of 21, Diaz auditioned for the Jim Carrey film The Mask. Even though she had no previous acting experience,[6] she was cast as the female lead. She signed up for acting lessons right after getting the part. Over the next three years, she won roles in low-budget, independent films, such as The Last Supper, Feeling Minnesota, and She's The One.

She then regained mainstream success with her roles in My Best Friend's Wedding and There's Something About Mary. She won critical acclaim for her performance in Being John Malkovich, which earned her Best Supporting Actress nominations at the Golden Globes, the BAFTA Awards and the SAG Awards.

Cameron Diaz with Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival, photo by Rita Molnár

Cameron Diaz with Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival, photo by Rita Molnár

Diaz has also starred in the hit adaptation of Charlie's Angels and its sequel, and she voiced a lead character in Shrek and its sequel, for which she earned $10 million. In 2001, she won nominations for Best Supporting Actress at the Golden Globes, the SAG Awards and the AFI Awards for Vanilla Sky. For Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, she became the second actress (after Wedding costar Julia Roberts) to earn $20 million for a role; the film underperformed at the box office.

Diaz was mentioned regularly in British comedy series Bo' Selecta, being referred to lovingly as 'Cameron Up-Diaz', and is credited as having appeared in one episode in 2003.

Diaz was the host of the 2005 MTV television series Trippin'.

Maxim Magazine ranked her #22 in their annual hot 100 in 2004, then she ranked #11 in 2005. In 2006 she made the top 10 by ranking in at #7.

She became a victim of a attempted blackmail. In her early career she was photographed topless and later as she became famous, the photographer threaten to release the photos if she didn't give him money. She then sued the photographer, after which he claimed that she had signed a release. After he provided the release paper with her signature, it was discovered that he had gotten her signature off the Internet. Diaz won the law suit and the photographer was fined for lying to the court.

Future work for Diaz include a role in Shrek the Third in 2007, where she co-stars with former boyfriend Justin Timberlake. She was set to team up again with The Mask co-star Jim Carrey in the film Fun with Dick and Jane, but she dropped out to star in In Her Shoes. She was recently set to star opposite Carrey again in A Little Game Without Consequence that was planned to start filming in October for a summer release date. The film was shelved and filming is still yet to commence.

Relationships

Diaz dated actor Matt Dillon from 1995 to 1998. She then had a four-year relationship with actor/singer Jared Leto from 1998 to 2002.

Most recently, Diaz dated singer and former *NSYNC member Justin Timberlake, who she met at the Kids' Choice Awards in 2003. After nearly four years together, the pair issued a joint statement on January 11, 2007, announcing they had broken up, following weeks of break-up rumors.

In October 2004, Diaz and Timberlake were in an altercation with a tabloid photographer outside a hotel. When the photographer and another man tried to photograph them, the couple snatched the camera. Pictures of the incident appeared in US Weekly. Representatives for the pair claimed that they were "ambushed" and acting out of self-defense.

Diaz and Timberlake were involved in another paparazzi incident while walking out of a friend's house. The paparazzi jumped out of bushes and photographed them. He then entered his car and allegedly drove it towards Diaz, who had to jump out of the way. Diaz pressed charges against the paparazzi, whose agency supported his actions as legal and safe.

Personal life

Diaz has publicly admitted she is deeply germophobic and habitually rubs doorknobs so hard before opening doors to clean them that the original paint fades afterwards. Along with her floors, she says, she washes her hands "many times" each day and uses her elbows to push open doors. "I'm not scared of germs. I'm just aware of them...I'm not into other people's fluids unless I know them really well."

Diaz is appearing in an ad campaign on Japanese television for SoftBank: October/November 2006. Diaz also supports the West London football club Brentford FC after visiting a Hollywood cafe owned by a Brentford supporter.

In 2004, a commercial S&M video of Diaz and another girl torturing a man leaked to the Internet. She made the video when she was 19. Diaz filed suit against the Russian internet site that distributed the video, but the video file is now distributed by many porn sites and Peer-to-peer (P2P) networks.

Diaz has been vocal in her opposition to U.S. President George W. Bush. Before 2000's election (on October 26 to be exact), Diaz (along with her Charlie's Angels co-stars, Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu) wore a shirt that said "I WON'T VOTE FOR A SON OF A BUSH!" while promoting Charlie's Angels on MTV's Total Request Live.[citation needed] During an Oprah appearance before 2004's election, Diaz said

“ Women have so much to lose... I mean, we could lose the right to our bodies. If you think rape should be legal then don't vote. But if you think you have a right to your body and you have a right to say what happens to you and fight off that danger of losing that, then you should vote. ”

Diaz also publicly talks about dealing with stress and says her favorite way to relax is to have sex; adding "Sex is the most amazing stress reliever...I actually think it’s the best thing for everything".

Diaz received "substantial" libel damages from suing American Media Incoporated, after The National Enquirer had claimed she was cheating on then-boyfriend Timberlake.

Awards nominations

* 1999: Golden Globe for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for There's Something About Mary

* 2000: Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture for Being John Malkovich

* 2000: SAG Award for Best Supporting Actress for Being John Malkovich

* 2000: BAFTA Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for Being John Malkovich

* 2002: Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture for Vanilla Sky

* 2002: SAG Award for Best Supporting Actress for Vanilla Sky

* 2003: Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture for Gangs of New York

* 2005: The Hitch