In her new film 'What To Expect When You're Expecting', based on the hugely successful American pregnancy manual, Diaz plays Jules, a weight loss TV show hostess who finds herself unexpectedly pregnant. Later this year Diaz will star in 'Gambit' opposite Colin Firth, and she'll soon film 'The Counsellor' written by author Cormac McCarthy for director Ridley Scott opposite Brad Pitt, Javier Bardem and Michael Fassbender.
How did it feel when you first put on your prosthetic baby bump?
It was cool. It really looked real, and if I didn't know that it was strapped to my body, and I didn't feel it, I would have thought it was real. Except obviously it's different, to have it externally rather than internally. It was made to lay on me perfectly, and so it was very comfortable to wear although it was very hot in Atlanta where we filmed so it got a little swampy. There were also different sizes - a three-month bump, five-month bump, seven and nine. It was pretty cool.
"A little swampy" was how Cameron Diaz found her baby bump for the What To Expect...
Your character Jules stars on a 'Strictly Come Dancing'-style show with dance pro Evan ('Glee's Matthew Morrison). What was that like?
Oh I loved it, and I loved dancing with Matthew. We had such a fun time doing the cha cha cha. It was both the most challenging thing, and the most amazing thing.
Sounds like you've become a big Matthew Morrison fan?
Well he's such a great actor too. We didn't just want him for the film because of the dancing. That was kind of like, "At least we know he can do that" but it was really Matthew as an actor that we wanted.
What pops into your head when you hear the word "baby"?
I see, "You are SO cute", baby food, nappies! No, I think of love. Babies are just love, that's all they are.
Cameron Diaz is celebrated for her fitness, something she brought to the role of Jules
Do you think you'll have one?
I have a lot of babies in my life. I've been an auntie for 15 years, to a 15-year-old, 12-year-old, 11-year-old and a three-year-old, and then I get to participate in the lives of a lot of friends' children. I totally want my own family, I welcome that whenever it's meant to be, and however it is meant to be, whether it's through me having my own baby, or adoption, or having a partner with children. I'm open to whenever this happens and I'm just really enjoying myself right now.
Have you watched anyone go through labour and birth?
My first time was with my sister when I was 24 and she had a C-section. She was saying, "I'm not going to have this baby if you're not in the room", and I said, "No! You are going to have this baby no matter what!" So I was in there and I was like, "Whaaat? Why didn't anybody tell me!?"There was blood everywhere, my sister's guts out on a platter and all of her intestines. It was crazy. I saw all three of them born, the other two were vaginal births. So I know what it was like to be in the room with this anticipation of a life coming into the world, and all that time you are waiting for it to come. And the expectations and fear and excitement. I just kind of brought that to the film.
You're quite a bossy trainer in the film. How would you cope with a trainer like Jules?
I'd think of it as motivation. I think that in anything you do in life, when you are trying to change a habit or trying to push yourself into something new - like for me, the dancing, because it's not something I do every day - having somebody that really encourages you makes you feel it's possible. And they don't let you stop because they know you can do it. That's really empowering and makes you just feel like you can do anything.
You seem as if you'll always be young at heart. How old do you feel?
I always say, I'm a 14-year-old boy as far as I'm concerned. I feel great.
Do you think you'll ever star on a TV show?
I don't plan anything to tell you the truth. I'm not a planner. I do what I have to for work, but otherwise I'm a kind of be-in-the-moment kind of gal. I hate knowing that three months from now I have to go back to work.
So you never wonder where you'll be in 10 years' time?
No, I never have. I remember interviews I did for my first film 'The Mask' in 1994. People were asking, "Whose career do you want to have?" and "Where do you see yourself in ten years?" And I wanted to say, "What's wrong with you? I just want to be doing something that I am happy doing and love doing." I still have no idea what it's going to be!
You always say you don't mind getting older. Is that really true?
It's fun. I like getting older. The alternative to getting older is death, so, I prefer life. I'm living it!
What To Expect When You're Expecting is out on DVD/Blu-ray 22 October. Watch the trailer below...