If she’d been a boy, Cameron Diaz said her parents would have named her Menachem El Genio or Sebastian Emilio. “Luckily, I was a girl,” she told PEOPLE in 1994.

A heavy-metal fan, Cameron Diaz went to her first Van Halen concert as a teenager with her mother. “I banged my head quite a bit,” she told Harper’s Bazaar. “I liked everything from Iron Maiden to Ozzy to AC/DC.”

Cameron Diaz’s mega-curves in her first movie, The Mask, were courtesy of a $36 Frederick’s of Hollywood padded bra.

“I’m technophoboic,” Cameron Diaz told the Houston Chronicle. “I think technology is a really terrifying thing and it is going to cause a lot of problems for our society, socially. I don’t have a computer and I don’t know how to turn one on.”

According to There’s Something About Mary director Peter Farrelly, during the movie’s driving range scene Cameron Diaz “had a better swing than the double we hired to stand in for her. And the double was a college golfer.”

As a child, her friends nicknamed her “Skeletor,” because she was tall and had an infectious smile.

Got alcohol poisoning in Australia at age 18.

Ranked #26 on the Maxim magazine Hot 100 of 2008 list.

Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the “100 Sexiest Stars” in film history (#13). [1995]

Chosen by People Magazine as one of the “50 Most Beautiful” people in the world. [1998]

Was set to play Sonya Blade in Mortal Kombat (1995) but broke her wrist prior to filming and was replaced by Bridgette Wilson.

Very superstitious.

Cameron’s father Emilio Diaz appeared in her movie There’s Something About Mary (1998) as a “Jailbird.”.

She graduated from Long Beach Polytechnic (Poly) High School (Class of 1990) in Long Beach, California. As a member of that school’s “Polyettes” dance-drill team, Cameron performed during half-time at football games.

Police caught an airline security guard at Los Angeles International Airport stealing items from Diaz. Diaz reported her passport and a large sum of cash missing. [December 1999]

Auditioned for the film Waking the Dead (2000) but lost the role to Jennifer Connelly.

Cameron’s parents allowed the then-16-year old to spend five years traveling the world to pursue her modeling career beginning in Japan, where she was accompanied only by a 15-year-old fellow model.

Was discovered by a photographer at a Hollywood party who, within a week, helped her land a contract with the Elite Modeling Agency.

Lived with video producer Carlos De La Torre for five years.

Her father is Cuban. Her mother is Anglo with partial Cherokee ancestry.

Will ONLY wash her face in Evian spring water!

Became only the second actress to join the coveted $20 Million Club (after Julia Roberts), when she signed for that amount to do Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle (2003) in January 2002.

Named by People Magazine as one of the the “50 Most Beautiful People” in the world. [2002]

Has an older sister, Chimene; they also have a brother.

Her mother, Billie, is of German, English and Native American descent.

Voted the 11th “Sexiest Female Movie Star” in the Australian Empire Magazine. [September 2002]

Measurements: 34B-23-36 (on set of The Mask (1994)) (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine).

30 August 2003 – Broke her nose in a surfing accident in Hawaii on her birthday.

Photographer John Rutter was ordered to stand trial for attempted extortion, attempted grand theft, perjury, and forgery after trying to blackmail her with topless shots he had of her from a 1992 shoot. [20 November 2003]

Voted as #8 on the “Top 100 Sexiest Women” in FHM [DK]. [2004]

Ranked #3 in Stuff magazine’s “102 Sexiest Women in the World.” [2002]

During her interview on “Inside the Actors Studio” (1994), said that she doesn’t read scripts and wishes movies were filmed from start to finish because sometimes she doesn’t understand them.

Her name is mentioned in the lyric of Brian Wilson’s 1998 song “South America”.

Best friends with Drew Barrymore since Charlie’s Angels (2000). Both Drew and Cameron are huge fans of the rock group Ratt.

Is portrayed in Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation (2003) by Anna Faris. Although Faris’ movie character is named Kelly and Coppola denied connections to Diaz in an Entertainment Weekly interview, the similarities between Kelly and Diaz are obvious.

Lived with Matt Dillon for some years in the 1990s.

Named #11 on the Maxim magazine Hot 100 of 2005 list.

Used to be a vegetarian.

Named #13 in FHM’s “100 Sexiest Women in the World 2005″ special supplement. (2005)

Ranked #1 in the “Worst Hollywood Signers 2006″ list by “Autograph Collector” magazine (May 2006).

Christophe Gans originally wanted her to play the part of Cybil Bennett in Silent Hill (2006).

Went to the same high school at the same time as Snoop Dogg.

Named #23 in FHM magazine’s “100 Sexiest Women in the World 2006″ supplement. (2006).

After having her nose broken 4 times, she decided to undergo corrective surgery. [November 2006]

Said that her role in Gangs of New York (2002) marked the pinnacle of her career.

Attended Jordan High School in North Long Beach, California.

Was considered for the role of Dorothy Boyd in Jerry Maguire (1996).

Broke up with Justin Timberlake. They had been together since 2003 [January 10, 2007].

Ranked #19 on the Maxim magazine Hot 100 of 2007 list.

Was set to play Jane in Fun with Dick and Jane (2005), but bowed out shortly before production due to scheduling conflicts.

Robbie Williams mentions her in his song “I Will Talk and Hollywood Will Listen”.

December 2007 – According to Forbes, for each dollar she got paid, Cameron Diaz’s movies averaged $9 of gross income.

Named #47 on Empire Magazine’s 100 Sexiest Movie Stars. (2007).