Anna Nicole Smith Was Originally Cast In The Role That Made Cameron Diaz A Star

1994 was a big year for cinema, often regarded as one of the best in recent decades, with the likes of "The Shawshank Redemption," "Pulp Fiction," "Forrest Gump," and many other classic films. But, as a teenager, I was all about comedy movies, and my highlight of the year was Jim Carrey seemingly bursting out of nowhere to bring his manic energy and flexible mug to three surprise hits: "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective," "The Mask," and "Dumb and Dumber." The middle film of this trio also made Cameron Diaz a star, although hers was a role initially slated for Anna Nicole Smith.

Diaz debuted as Tina Carlyle, the lounge singer and girlfriend of gangster Dorian Tyrell (Peter Greene), who captures the heart of our mild-mannered protagonist, bank teller Stanley Ipkiss (Carrey). He's smitten from the moment she walks into his workplace wearing a figure-hugging red dress and tossing her blonde hair in slow motion, an introduction to rival that of Lana Turner in "The Postman Always Rings Twice" or Barbara Stanwyck in "Double Indemnity." Ipkiss's eyes are virtually popping out on stalks before he even acquires cartoon powers that turn him into an anarchic Looney Tunes superhero.

Carlyle was originally written as a femme fatale, but the filmmakers were so charmed by Diaz's personality that major rewrites were required to change her part from a two-line bad girl part into a more substantial love interest for Carrey. Indeed, "The Mask" might have had a very different tone if Chuck Russell's first choice of Smith hadn't fallen through, yet she had eyes on a similar part in a different movie.

Anna Nicole Smith's rise to fame in the early '90s was startling, going from a strip club dancer in Texas to Playmate of the Year in 1993. Transforming herself into a "blonde bombshell" in the Marilyn Monroe mould, the next step was Hollywood at a time when Playboy models like Pamela Anderson and Erika Eleniak were also crossing over into movies. The media cast her as a real-life femme fatale when she married an 89-year-old oil tycoon and battled it out for the billionaire's estate in court. The case was still ongoing when she passed away aged just 39.

Smith was clearly a good fit for "The Mask" at a time when director Chuck Russell was thinking about Tina Carlyle along the lines of Jessica Rabbit in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit." Smith agreed to play the part, but she quickly dropped out to appear in "Naked Gun 33 1⁄3: The Final Insult" instead. According to producer Robert Engelman, Russell was so "crushed" by her withdrawal that he considered canceling the movie.

Russell tells it differently. Cameron Diaz was just 20 and working as a model with no acting experience, but he was impressed by her chemistry with Carrey during auditions. Nevertheless, casting her as the female lead was still considered a risk (via Den of Geek): "The producers were very skeptical and quite concerned [...] They were hoping to get me to go with a better-known name, and Anna Nicole Smith was one producer's favorite."

Whatever the truth, Smith was out and the unknown Diaz was in. It was a casting switch that made the film's central romance far more endearing.

Casting Cameron Diaz as Tina Carlyle gave her a more girl-next-door quality, which brought some welcome sweetness to her scenes with Jim Carrey between all the comic CGI mayhem. We still got a glimpse of how Anna Nicole Smith might've played the part if she'd stuck around in "Naked Gun 33 1⁄3," where she plays a more stereotypical gangster's moll called Tanya Peters. She's pretty wooden, but she at least seems to get the brief, sending up her public image and enjoying some amusing moments with Leslie Nielsen.

It's hard to imagine what kind of chemistry Smith would've had with Carrey, however, and ultimately Chuck Russell's gamble casting a complete unknown paid off as "The Mask" raked in over $350 million at the box office from a $23 million budget. Meanwhile, Smith received a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst New Star with her performance in "Naked Gun 33 1⁄3;" she pipped Jim Carrey of all people, whose trio of 1994 hits grossed over $700 million in total. It's easy to suspect that the Razzie was as much down to Smith's off-screen notoriety as Hollywood's hottest murder suspect, O.J. Simpson, also won Worst Supporting Actor for his role in the film.

Smith and Diaz's screen fortunes took wildly different trajectories from that point. Smith's hectic private life became the subject of intense paparazzi scrutiny as she became something of a showbiz punchline, appearing in only a few more films before her untimely passing in 2007. Contrastingly, "The Mask" made Diaz an overnight sensation, and she went on to enjoy a long and successful Hollywood career.