Director Says Cameron Diaz’s Return Alongside Jamie Foxx Was an ‘Unusual Situation to Navigate’

Jamie Foxx was Cameron Diaz’s “biggest cheerleader” on the set of Back in Action.

According to director Seth Gordon, Foxx, 57, was a major supporter of Diaz, 52, during her return to acting with Netflix’s Back in Action, her first film in over a decade. “Anyone who was on set will tell you he was the biggest cheerleader and hype man for her, and really for everybody involved, but especially for her,” Gordon, 48, told People in an interview published on Saturday, January 18.

Gordon also addressed Foxx’s medical emergency in April 2023, which interrupted filming on the Netflix project, noting that Diaz was able to “spiritually” support her costar when he returned to set.

“She got to return the favor in that way spiritually,” Gordon told the outlet. “It was a very unusual situation to navigate, but it makes a big difference when they have this old friendship, and it’s coming from such a good place.”

Both Foxx and Diaz have worked together previously, starring together in 2014’s Annie — Diaz’s last film before Back in Action. They first shared the screen in Any Given Sunday in 1999.

Diaz, however, took a step back from acting in 2018 to focus on her family. She and husband Benji Madden, whom she wed in 2015, welcomed daughter Raddix in 2019 and son Cardinal in 2024. A source told Us Weekly earlier this month that Diaz’s decision to act again “evolved over time,” adding, “It wasn’t sudden.”

“Only you could get me back in action,” Diaz wrote of Foxx via Instagram in June 2022 when their new film was first announced. Another source told Us that while filming Back in Action, Foxx and Diaz were “constantly laughing on set,” noting they share a similar sense of humor “and their chemistry is unmatched.”

In an August 2022 interview with Entertainment Tonight, Foxx shared that he had promised Diaz they would have fun on set, which ultimately convinced her to come back to acting.

“So it was literally, ‘Do you wanna have some fun? Just have some fun!’ And I think that’s what brought her to it,” he said at the time. “We miss special moments sometimes in our business, and I think this is a special moment. So we’re so happy that it’s happening and looking forward to it.”

Despite the fun she and Foxx had on the Back in Action set, the actress said in a December 2024 interview with Empire that it was “hard to say” whether she’d do another movie after. “I reserve the right to say no to doing a movie ever again, and I reserve the right to say yes if I decide to,” she said.

Back in Action is now streaming on Netflix.