Kathryn Newton Will Never Forget What Cameron Diaz Did for the 'Bad Teacher' Cast

The Big Picture

• Kathryn Newton reflects on her time working opposite Cameron Diaz in Bad Teacher .
• Newton reveals that she still has and cherishes a framed photo of her and Diaz from Bad Teacher.
• Newton stars in Lisa Frankenstein , which arrives in theaters on February 9, 2024.

Though in recent years, she’s gone to battle to save the multiverse in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, unfurled a mystery next to some of the biggest names in the biz in Big Little Lies, and, most recently, reanimated a corpse—but in a flirty and fun way—in Lisa Frankenstein, many of us will never forget spotting Kathryn Newton in one of her earliest roles opposite Cameron Diaz in Bad Teacher. There, along with other up-and-coming names at the time, including Kaitlyn Dever and Finneas O’Connell, Newton appeared as one of the students under the not-so-watchful eye of Diaz’s Elizabeth Halsey. The role served as a major breakthrough for the burgeoning star’s career so, naturally, when Collider’s Perri Nemiroff was given the opportunity to ask Newton about it during a recent installment of Ladies Night, she jumped on it. In all, Nemiroff was hoping to gain some knowledge behind how the project shaped Newton into the actress we now know her as over a decade later.

Jumping right into the topic at hand, Nemiroff asked what set Bad Teacher apart from other projects that Newton had worked on since. Fully voicing her love for the iconic star, Newton giddily answered,“Well, not every set has Cameron Diaz in it, okay?” Diving into some of the background behind what made Diaz an absolute treasure to work with, Newton continued,

“Simple answer. But you know what’s so cool? [Cameron Diaz] knew that we all wanted a picture with her, because we were like 11 years old, and she hired a photographer, and they printed out the picture, and she signed it for everybody. Not just the leads, like the lead kids. I think she did it for all the extras. Like, what ? Superstar! So, I learned a lot from that.”

The Small World of Hollywood

Newton says that Diaz’s act of kindness and how to carry herself as the leading star of a feature film is something that has stuck with her as her career continues to grow. She knows that the business is a small world filled with people you’re likely to come across again and again, so, kindness and humanity are key.

“ I learned that it’s a very small world - acting, Hollywood. I’ve known the people in that film forever. I just met, recently, the writer of that script. I met him at a party last weekend, and he was like, ‘I wrote that,’ and I was like, ‘What? And you wrote this now?’ So it’s kind of like Hollywood’s very high school in the way that you kind of stay friends with people forever, like, you know them forever, which I love. I would say that. I would say those are the things that I learned the most from.”

We know what you’re wondering—did Newton keep the signed picture of her and her bestie, Diaz? Of course, she does, revealing, “I still have the photo. It’s still framed in my house.”

Check out Nemiroff’s full conversation with Newton in the Ladies Night segment below. You can catch the Bad Teacherstar opposite Cole Sprouse when Lisa Frankenstein rises into theaters on February 9.

Lisa Frankenstein (2024)

A coming of RAGE love story about a teenager and her crush, who happens to be a corpse. After a set of horrific circumstances bring him back to life, the two embark on a journey to find love, happiness - and a few missing body parts.

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