Anna Faris has addressed the long-standing rumor that she based her character on Lost in Translation on Cameron Diaz, and made it clear that she was never happy with the speculation in the first place.
Talking about Happy Sad Confused podcast on Thursday, June 4, Faris, 49, walked back the idea that her portrayal of a bubbly, self-absorbed actress in Sofia Coppola’s 2003 film was a deliberate dig at Charlie’s Angels star.
“I was always kind of annoyed by that accusation,” she said.
“I felt like it took a little bit away from my taste, and because I’d auditioned for it and earned it as that performance, I’d always felt, ‘No, I’m not part of a big weird sabotage’.”
Faris explained that her inspiration came from a completely different source.
Having recently moved to Los Angeles from Seattle, she had met a type of person she had never encountered before, someone she describes as a “self-describer.”
“Someone who’s like, ‘I’m this and I’m spiritual and I’m really creative and my aura is this,'” she said.
It was that energy that she tapped into when she auditioned for the role, with Diaz not entering her thinking at any point.
The rumors apparently reached Diaz and affected her.
Faris said she had read that Diaz’s feelings were hurt and had wanted to reach out, but struggled to find the right way to do so. The closest she came to clearing the air was when Diaz appeared on her own podcast, Anna Faris is unqualifiedin 2021.
“Maybe we should clear the air on this podcast?” she joked on Thursday.
“I only had 25 minutes with her. I didn’t know if I should start right away until I said, “I’m really sorry. I didn’t.” At least I don’t know if I did well.”
She also noted that she never felt able to ask director Sofia Coppola to publicly set the record straight.
What she could do, however, was offer Diaz a genuine compliment, and she did.
“She does something that I call the ‘Cameron Diaz Effect,’ which is a scene in Charlie’s Angels when she dances to Baby came backman, she’s having so much fun. The crowd is having so much fun. You love it,” Faris said.
“I was able to pay her that compliment.”
It is, by Faris’s own admission, an imperfect resolution to a two-decade-old misunderstanding, but a sincere one.
