The title of Netflix’s new film Back in Action has a kind of meta meaning. First, it features the return of Cameron Diaz to the movies after 10 years, and she is back in action for sure. It’s also the return of director Seth Gordon, who hadn’t released a narrative feature film since 2017’s Baywatch. The title of Back in Action, starring Diaz, Jamie Foxx, Glenn Close, Kyle Chandler, Andrew Scott, and more, can also refer to the numerous times the film was halted and almost abandoned. Production was disrupted multiple times before everyone could get back in action, as Gordon told MovieWeb in a recent interview. He and his lead actor almost died, and the production had to shut down for other reasons as well. Gordon explains:
“The first month of shooting, I was supposed to get surgery. But I thought I was gonna lose Glenn, and Jamie Demetriou, because it was a very limited window when they could work. So really stupidly, I’m on set, like pushing through. And then immediately when we went to Christmas break, my gallbladder started to rip open, and I had to go to emergency surgery. I’m not sorry. I think it was the right choice because, like, they are so good in the movie, those two. I would do it again.”
And then there was, of course, Jamie Foxx’s terrifying illness. At the time, Gordon didn’t know what had happened to Foxx and how serious it was, and neither did Netflix for a while. And so, near the end of its production, Back in Action had to essentially shut down due to Foxx’s absence, but there was enough footage for Gordon to work on the editing and post-production of the film. But he had no idea when, or even if, Foxx would return to finish the movie. What was he feeling at that time? Gordon told MovieWeb:
“It didn’t feel hopeless. I was just scared for him. I have had family that have had similar things happen. He’s now talked about it in his [Netflix] special, so it’s not a secret, but it’s brain stuff, and it required surgery. It’s like the scariest kind of surgery to have. And actually, a very close friend of mine during the production, died from brain cancer — a totally different issue, but still the brain. And it was hard.”
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“In this case, we had shot whatever it was, maybe 85%, 90% of the movie, and I was worried about him, but I also had a cut that I could focus on. So there was — it wasn’t despair, it was just concern for him,” added Gordon. “And then the strikes happened. So when he was healthy, which was basically a miracle, how he came back and how he recovered, the strikes were on. So we had our share of obstacles on this movie.” Gordon concluded:
“I don’t know, we just never really gave up. We kept plugging away. And frankly, to Netflix’s credit, they didn’t ever put us on ice. It was like, ‘You guys keep working. It’s all good. We’ll just wait out whatever we have to.’ And the visual effects take so damn long that it was, you know, I’m not sure that it necessarily altered the timeline that much, because they just take so long.”
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Getting Cameron Diaz Back in Action
Cameron Diaz may have been in retirement, but according to Gordon, there was nothing rusty about her performance and skills. She was right there from the beginning, ready to rock,” said Gordon. “Honestly, she was doing all this training for the stunt sequences; while we were in prep, she was getting up to speed herself. So on day one, she was just ready, and I think if there were any nerves, it was on take one, and they were erased.” The director continued to praise Diaz:
“She’s just a total pro and incredible at her job. She’s such a pleasure to work with, legitimately, sincerely. And it’s inspiring too, because you know that the way the one and two on the call sheet come in and set the tone is really everything. Their thoughtfulness and their care and their concern and their professionalism — they’re both amazing.”
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Gordon credits Foxx entirely with Diaz’s casting. “It was his idea to think about Cameron, which he at first kept secret from me, because I think he didn’t want to get my hopes up, didn’t want to get anybody’s hopes up. He didn’t want to be, I think, unfair to her, because she’s supposed to be retired,” said Gordon, who explained:
I think he had, like, an instinct, intuition, that there was a possibility, and also that this particular project, with even its title, for God’s sake, speaks to where she was at. And he’s a crafty man. He set the table and it worked out.
It certainly worked out, considering how successful the film has been. You can watch Back in Action on Netflix through the link below:
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
