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When we first saw Cameron Diazs film debut in The Mask, audiences had a response not unlike that of Jim Carreys green-skinned protagonist. Okay, maybe we werent quite so aroused, but our eyes did practically pop out of our sockets. And with good reason. After all, Diaz is a tall, striking blonde who looked every bit like the model turned actress she was.Given her high profile beginning, it might sound weird to describe any Cameron Diaz performance as overlooked. Not only does Diaz fit well within traditional leading lady roles, but she has a knack for comic timing and a lack of ego that led to big performances in Theres Something About Mary, The Sweetest Thing, and Annie. Yet there have been several movies in which Diaz puts in admirable, exciting work, only to get overshadowed by her co-stars. No one comes away from My Best Friends Wedding, Being John Malkovich, or even Charlies Angels talking about how Cameron Diaz stole the show. But if they look closer at what shes doing, theyll find a gifted comic actress putting in a nuanced performance, often more complicated than those who got all the praise.My Best Friends WeddingFor the 1997 romantic comedy My Best Friends Wedding, Diaz takes the most unenviable of roles. She plays the other woman, the romantic rival to the movies lead, played here by Julia Roberts at the height of her popularity. Surely, Diazs character will be evaporated in the light of Roberts smile and the audience would hate her.Yet writer Ronald Bass and director P.J. Hogan do just the opposite in My Best Friends Wedding, making Roberts food critic Jules a self-satisfied jerk who wants to ruin the wedding of her best friend Michael (Dermot Mulroney) and his fiance Kimmy (Diaz). The inversion only works because of the complexity that Diaz brings to her nice-girl character. In one of the movies standout scenes, Jules weaponizes her knowledge that Kimmy hates to sing and suffers from stage fright. Jules takes Michael and Kimmy to a karaoke bar, and while the former cant control his excitement over getting the chance to sing with his best friend again, the camera stays on the latter after Jules and Michael rush off. We see Kimmy frozen in fear, a fear that continues even as she tries to get over her anxiety and support Michael in his fun.The usually indomitable Diaz has never looked smaller than when a microphone gets shoved in front of her and shes forced to sing the Bacharach and David number, I Just Dont Know What to Do with Myself. She shrinks even more after reaction shots of Jules. Diaz, like us, spots the slight grin on Roberts face that her plan is working. She also sees Michael slightly disgusted that his bride-to-be cannot share in an activity he loves.And yet, Kimmy soldiers on, singing over shouts of you suck through fumbled lines and flat notes. The commitment eventually wins over the crowd, and they begin cheering for each other even her off-key moments. And the next time the camera cuts to Jules, it pans over to Michael, looking now at Kimmy not with disgust, but with awe, fully impressed at the womans bravery and commitment.As funny and wonderful as the moment is, it works not just because we see the bitter Jules hoisted on her own petard. It works because Diaz doesnt overplay Kimmys hand. Even when shes won back Michaels affection and the crowds support, Diaz doesnt let Kimmy become her: a striking, beautiful, confident woman. She stays in character, and lets Kimmys face go flush, lets her sometimes hunch in embarrassment, lets a little bit of the anxiety remain in the corners of her smile.Its an incredibly complex supporting performance, one that never overshadows the excellent work that Roberts is doing with her complex Jules. In fact, it enhances Jules as a character by making Kimmy a real and vulnerable person, not just an unbeatable sweetheart.Being John MalkovichCameron Diaz is a consummate romantic comedy star, and she is always great in them. Unfortunately, some of her most ineffective performances have come when she attempts different genres, none worse than her disastrous turn in Martin Scorseses Gangs of New York.For that reason, people often disregard her appearance in the 1999 Spike Jonze art film, Being John Malkovich. John Cusack gets praise for committing to the part of Craig Schwartz, a bitter puppeteer who finds a portal into the mind of actor John Malkovich. Catherine Keener gets praise for her steely take on the object of affection for Craigs affection Maxine Lund, who uses Craig to get access to the portal. And of course Malkovich gets praise for playing himself as an air-headed, arrogant actor.Join our mailing listGet the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox!None of those accolades make their way to Diaz. Diaz plays Craigs wife Lotte, a pet-lover disdained by her husband. With her mussed hair and shapeless grey sweatshirts, Diaz too often gets dismissed as one more attractive actor trying for superficial gravitas by playing ugly, unconvincingly. But Lotte is much more than the frumpy woman at home. When Lotte enters the portal into Malkovich, its not the allure of power or fame that impresses her. Its the feeling of being in the right body, its the feeling of being identified as a man.Lotte emerges from the exit from Malkovichs mind (near the New Jersey Turnpike) gleeful and childlike, jumping up and down in euphoria. As she rides away in the car with Craig, Diaz keeps the expression of confusion and joy on her face. Lotte has finally found her place.The contrast between Diazs performances as Lotte before and after the Malkovich revelation help make sense of her part in the movies first act. What so many dismissed as nothing more than a pretty actor trying to look not-pretty was, in fact, Diaz playing a trans man still identifying as a woman. The flatness and falseness in her behaviors were not mistakes but correct choices for the character. They relayed the truth of Lotte as a person who could not be who she actually was.Charlies AngelsUnlike Being John Malkovich, 2000s Charlies Angels seems like the ideal Diaz vehicle. A big flashy update of a cheesy show from the 1970s, directed with TV commercial slickness by McG, Charlies Angels was all about pretty ladies doing action sequences in tight, low-rise pants.To be sure, thats exactly what Diaz delivers as team leader Natalie Cook. Sure, Natalie might have a PhD from MIT, and she might test fighter jets for the U.S. Navy, but that doesnt prevent her from driving a speed boat in a gold bikini or disguising herself as a bearded man next to her partner Alexs (Lucy Liu) vampish corporate trainer.Charlies Angels has no qualms about being all about eye candy and over-the-top stunts, but its generally the side characters who get the attention. While new revelations of Bill Murrays bad behavior get released to this day, his deadpan approach to handler Bosley remains a fan favorite. Clips of Sam Rockwell and Crispin Glover in supporting turns make the rounds on social media whenever someone finds out that such idiosyncratic actors showed up in such a nakedly commercial film. Even among the leads, Drew Barrymore and Liu get singled out while Diaz gets taken for granted.But of the three Angels, Diaz best embodies the movies aesthetic. She leans into the sexiness, appearing in almost every scene with leather pants and tops designed for maximum cleavage. And she embraces the cheese, tripping and falling, letting herself be laughed at as a nerd onscreen and to show off that shes part of the joke. She even excels in the conspicuously fake action sequences, allowing just enough of a smirk when she performs Matrix-style kung fu in a climactic battle with a villain played by Kelly Lynch.Watching Charlies Angels feels like a watching a car accident waiting to happen. At any second, the movie could veer too far into the male gaze and make the movie feel leery and gross. The action sequences fall just on the right side of cheap, as if the poor digital effects are a choice instead of the result of incompetence and age. The rambling plot could become confusing and annoying instead of a solid scaffolding to hang the movies showcase scenes upon.The thing holding it all together is Diaz, who understands the movies tone and commits to it. If she ever looked a bit too uncomfortable, if she ever gave less than 100 percent in a fight sequence, then the entire thing would fall apart. Like Cyclops, Leonardo, and other great pop culture leaders, Natalie Cook gets dismissed as boring when shes in fact reliable, all thanks to Diaz.
