“Absolutely NO APPEAL to me”: Angelina Jolie Rejected Cameron Diaz as Co-Star in $264M Movie, Didn’t Want to be a ‘Big Star’

Angelina Jolie is one of the most well-known and talented actresses in Hollywood.

Starring in massive projects like the Maleficent franchise, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Salt, and Wanted, as well as her work in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Eternals, she has made a name for herself as being an actress who knows how to portray strong roles for women on screen.

Angelina Jolie
Despite this, however, it is quite interesting to find out that Jolie rejected one of the most iconic feminist movies of the 2000s, Charlie’s Angels.

Angelina Jolie Did Not Want To Be A Star Through Charlie’s Angels

During an interview, Angelina Jolie revealed that she was approached with the script of the iconic movie, Charlie’s Angels, where she was asked to star alongside Lucy Liu, Drew Barrymore, and Cameron Diaz. She went on to say that the team had given her three reasons why she should do the film, the first being that she would get to play a strong female character on screen, something that was very rare in Hollywood at the time.
Lucy Liu in Charlie’s Angels (2000)
Jolie told in an interview with Premiere (via 9 Types),

“When [Columbia Pictures] sent me the script for Charlie’s Angels, they said there were three reasons I should do it,” Jolie once told. “They said there hadn’t been really good, strong roles for women; that it would make me a big star; and that I would have a fun time doing it.” she went on, “All my roles so far in Gia, Wallace, Playing By Heart, and The Bone Collector have been strong female roles. The idea of being a big STAR has absolutely NO APPEAL to me.”

They also went on to tell her that she would have a fun time filming the movie, as well as the fact that it was a guaranteed hit and would make her a very big star. While all of this may have been appealing for some, Jolie was not interested in doing the movie for her own reasons. For starters, she did not think that she needed to be explicitly looking for a role where she could play a strong female character as she had done so a number of times with movies like Gia, Playing By Heart, Girl, Interrupted, and many more.

Angelina Jolie is renowned for her blunt and outspoken personality
“Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz are already celebrities and they’re going to have great fun spoofing their images with Charlie’s Angels. I’m not at that point in my career, so audiences won’t have as much fun watching me run around in high heels chasing bad guys and flipping my hair,” she said.
The other reason why the actress rejected this project was the fact that, while for Diaz and Barrymore, this was a fun little project in their career, with them already being well-established celebrities, Jolie was still starting off with her career at the time, and did not believe that anyone really wanted to see her play a character like that in a movie like Charlie’s Angels.

Angelina Jolie Rejected Charlie’s Angels For Another Film

Angelina Jolie went on to reveal that her idea of a ‘fun movie’ was Gone in 60 Seconds, the movie for which she had rejected Charlie’s Angels. Before this, the actress worked on Girl, Interrupted, a drama based on a book of the same name, dealing with some very sensitive and heavy topics. Due to the mature themes of this film, Jolie was looking for something much more lighthearted for her next project, and Gone in 60 Seconds fit her requirement perfectly.
Winona Ryder and Angelina Jolie in Girl, Interrupted
“That was going to be my fun movie and I was going to have fun doing it with guys,” she said, “I did this film to ground myself because [this character] is very, y’know, her hands are greasy. She’s got two jobs. She knows what she wants, simple things make her happy. And she’s very to the point, doesn’t want much. Is just looking for a fast ride and that would make her happy,”
Starring alongside Nicholas Gage, Jolie revealed that another reason for her decision to be part of this movie was the character she was playing, adding that she was a simple yet hardworking woman whose happiness came from the little things. This aspect of the character made her much more appealing to Jolie.