This beloved actress, author, producer, and model quit the acting scene in 2014 but remains a worldwide icon for her work in blockbuster movies. Could this star have Cuban heritage?
Cameron Diaz is Cuban. Her father, Emilio Diaz, is Cuban-American, and she was introduced to Cuban culture at an early age, including the music, food, and language, though Diaz doesn’t speak Spanish.
Read on to find out more about Diaz’s background, and what she’s up to now that she’s retired.
Background and Early Career
Diaz was born in San Diego, California, and raised in Long Beach. Her father’s family emigrated from Cuba to Florida long before he was born, and worked in Ybor City as cigar rollers.
Her mother is of Native American, Italian, and German descent, and her father is of Spanish descent, as his family had long ago come from Spain to Cuba before coming to America.
She started as a model at 16 years old, before becoming a hit actress in 1994 at 21 years old with her first movie, The Mask, co-starring Jim Carrey. After that, her acting career took off, and she kept growing in her popularity even after her retirement from acting in 2014.
Many of her fans were surprised to hear of her decision to retire, as many actors or actresses stay in the business their entire lives. So what has this star been doing since her retirement?
Retired Life
Near the end of her acting career, Diaz released The Body Book: The Law of Hunger, the Science of Strength, and Other Ways to Love Your Amazing Body, co-written by Sandra Bark. Diaz, who had been a role model for women since her debut to Hollywood, talks about nutrition, exercise, and how they affect the health of both the mind and the body.
The Body Book is packed with research and important information on how to care for your body and explains it in ways that are easy for readers of every background to understand, but it’s also about learning to love the body that you have.
Three years later, she and Sandra Bark published a sort of sequel, called The Longevity Book: The Science of Aging, the Biology of Strength, and the Privilege of Time. This time around, Diaz set out to educate women everywhere on aging, and the negative stereotypes around it, especially for women.
The Longevity Book includes both history and biology, using interviews with experts as well as her own experiences to demystify female aging and make it less intimidating than it seems.
As well as becoming a best-selling author, Diaz also became a wife and a mom after she went into retirement.
In 2014, she and Benji Madden, lead guitarist for the bands Good Charlotte and The Madden Brothers, began dating, after being set up by Nicole Richie, who is married to Benji’s identical twin brother and co-founder of Good Charlotte and The Madden Brothers, Joel Madden.
Early in 2015, Diaz and Madden got married at their home in Beverly Hills, and just recently, the couple posted on Instagram about the birth of their daughter, Raddix Chloe Wildflower Madden.
The post reads, “We are so happy, blessed, and grateful to begin this new decade by announcing the birth of our daughter, Raddix Madden. She has instantly captured our hearts and completed our family.”
Diaz and Madden have been careful to keep their daughter out of the limelight, wanting her to keep her privacy. As they say, “[W]e won’t be posting pictures or sharing any more details, other than the fact that she is really cute!! Some would even say RAD :)”
In this recent post by Madden, he shows his love for his family, saying, “My Wife and Daughter fill me up with so much gratitude.”
Watch the YouTube video below to see Cameron Diaz talk about her new life as a mom.
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