cameron diaz movies
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 Though he started his career as a professional skateboarder, Jason Lee managed to accomplish a rare feat—he made the switch from successful athlete to successful actor. While many athletes often fail to become serious thespians, usually resigning themselves to cut-rate action heroes in straight-to-video schlock (think Hulk Hogan or Shaquille O’Neal), Lee used his easy-going charm and natural good looks to break in with character-driven indies, starting with Kevin Smith’s much-maligned “Mallrats” (1995).He quickly graduated to more prominent features, earning critical kudos and Internet fandom while maintaining a low-key mainstream profile. The one arena Lee loathed to participate in, however, was television—being confined to one role year after year turned the young actor off to the idea. But in 2005, Lee turned tail and starred in his first primetime series, “My Name Is Earl” (NBC, 2005- ), a welcome sign of maturity from a former skateboarder who turned to acting for the hell of it.
Born in Huntington Beach, California, Lee knew at 5 years-old that he wanted to skate, but waited until he was 13 to do anything about it. He dropped out of high school senior year and by the time he was 18, he was a professional skateboarder. Lee quickly rose in fame and glory, thanks in part to his famous maneuver, the 360 flip, where he would flip and catch his board under his feet mid-jump—a modest, but tricky move. Meanwhile, Lee formed his own company, Stereo Skateboards, with a friend, only to soon leave the business and the skateboarding world behind. Fearing he’d become another washed up boarder glomming on to his fast-fading youth, Lee decided to pursue acting. He had his first taste in the early 1990’s when he appeared in several music videos and commercials directed by Spike Jonze, who also owned his own skateboarding company. The two later appeared briefly in the indie gang drama, “Mi Vida Loca” (1993).
Lee got his first major part playing Brodie, a videogame addicted slacker who gets dumped by his girlfriend and goes to the mall with his best friend (Jeremy London), where they hatch a plot to sabotage a television game show filming later that day. Not as vitriolic or daring as Smith’s debut, “Clerks” (1994), “Mallrats” suffered from being ordinary and pointless. After the ultra-low budget comedy “Drawing Flies” (1996), Lee had a meatier role in Smith’s next feature, “Chasing Amy” (1997), playing Banky, creator of a cult comic book who’s enjoying its success with his best friend and illustrator, Holden (Ben Affleck). But when Holden meets Alyssa, another comic book artist who also happens to be a lesbian, their friendship is put to the test—Holden decides to pursue Alyssa despite her sexuality, while Banky becomes increasingly jealous of their relationship. In “Kissing A Fool” (1998), Lee played a novelist spurned by his girlfriend (Vanessa Angel) who sets up his best friend, Max (David Schwimmer) with his book editor (Mili Avital) only to learn in hindsight it was a mistake.
After an appearance as a doomed computer hacker in “Enemy of the State” (1998), Lee played Loren, a Navy chef thrown out of the service for assaulting a superior unappreciative of his cooking in “American Cuisine” (1998). After moving to France, Loren attempts to learn haute cuisine under the tutelage of a four star chef, but is looked down upon because of his nationality. The foreign-made comedy failed to be released in American theaters. Then in the snappy, but superficial “Mumford” (1999), a romantic comedy about a psychologist (Loren Dean) who hangs his shingle in a small town and dispenses therapy to the offbeat locals, he played a successful Internet mogul looking to be loved for more than his money. Lee joined forces with Smith once again for the director’s overbearing religious satire, “Dogma” (1999), then fronted the Stillwater Band in Cameron Crowe’s semi-autobiographical coming-of-age drama, “Almost Famous” (2000).
Lee rejoined Crowe for his next film, “Vanilla Sky” (2001), playing the best friend and loyal doormat of a wealthy publisher (Tom Cruise) to whom he loses his soul mate (Penelope Cruz) after bringing her to a party. In “Jay and Silent Bob Strikes Back” (2001), Lee revived his character from “Chasing Amy” in this madcap Hollywood comedy centered on the famed duo. After falling prey to a mother-daughter con artist team in “Heartbreakers” (2001), he was an affable average Joe who’s convinced by his best friend (Tom Green), a life-long bad influence, to engage in petty crime after wedding plans are interrupted by a longstanding promise to pay for his niece’s college tuition in “Stealing Harvard” (2002). Lee then made appearances in a couple supporting roles, including in the abysmal ensemble caper comedy “Big Trouble” (2002) and the obscure vanity indie, “I Love Your Work” (2003).
In the romantic comedy of errors “A Guy Thing” (2003), Lee played a bridegroom determined not to do anything bad at his bachelor party, only to wake up next to a naked Becky, the strange girl (Julia Stiles) he met the night before. One lie begets another as he gets trapped in a never-ending web of fibs with his fiancée (Selma Blair) while coming to realize that Becky might actually be the one. After playing one of four childhood friends who reunite for a hunting trip that’s interrupted by an alien invasion in the forgettable adaptation of Stephen King’s “Dreamcatcher” (2003), Lee made a brief appearance as a public relations executive in “Jersey Girl” (2004), his fifth collaboration with Smith.
Lee ventured off the beaten path for his next film, voicing Buddy Pine, a.k.a. Syndrome, a former boyhood fan turned nemesis in the animated blockbuster, “The Incredibles” (2004). He was then seen in his first television series, “My Name Is Earl," playing a petty thief who wins the lottery and has a karmic revelation to right all the wrongs he’s done to others in his life in one of the peacock network's most buzzed about shows of the season.
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