VOD Spotlight: Cameron Diaz is a “Bad Teacher”

Cameron Diaz stars in "Bad Teacher"Cameron Diaz has a history of playing edgy roles — consider the leggy beauty as the drab wife of a puppeteer in Being John Malkovich, for example — but rarely is she as unlikeable as she is in Bad Teacher. It’s one of the reasons she took the role of Elizabeth, a woman teaching only long enough to find the money for the breast enhancement that she is convinced will be her ticket to a better life. When she sets her sights on a wealthy and idealistic substitute teacher attracted to someone else, rivalries lead to over-the-top comedy.

“You just don’t come across parts like this. It just doesn’t happen.  And particularly for women,” Diaz says of the role. “The script is just so subversive and brilliant and so funny. By the time I finished reading it for the first time, there was no question — I had to play her.”

Director Jake Kasdan says Diaz completely immersed herself in the role. “Cameron has got this great thing: she is completely fearless … She enjoys being dirty and edgy and she’s completely open-minded about what might work.  She was the perfect person to be at the center of this and it was a real gift for the writers and me to be working with her.”

One of the difficulties in making an R-rated film about teaching was working with a cast of students. “Before we started filming, we made sure that all the kids — and all the parents — knew what the project was going to be like,” Diaz says.  “I said, ‘There’s going to be swearing here and completely irreverent and inappropriate behavior.  If you have any issue with that, we respect that, but this isn’t the place for you.’  And then we got started…”

The film’s creators released this list of Elizabeth’s Top 10 teaching tips. We include them, as they give a marvelous look inside the classroom of this “Bad Teacher”:

  1. There is no heel too high, no sweater too tight, no neckline too low. Besides, it’s nothing these kids haven’t seen on the Internet.
  2. Movies are the new books. You would be surprised how educational Stand By Me and Dangerous Minds really are.
  3. Stay hydrated: Keep a bottle of your favorite liquor in your desk drawer.
  4. For those moments when the booze doesn’t cut it, keep an emergency J in your purse. It’s medicinal, and it’s OK as long as you do it in the gym.
  5. Always be honest with your students. If they suck, they should know.
  6. Get your rest. If you stayed out too late the night before, sleep in class.
  7. Throwing things at your students prepares them for the real world.
  8. If you are the school’s top fundraiser, they expect you to skim a little off the top.
  9. Cut corners wherever you can. Like Top 10 lists … just do nine. No one will notice.

“Bad Teacher” is available starting Oct. 18 on Video On Demand. Check your cable system for availability.

_______________________

© 2011 Columbia TriStar Marketing Group, Inc.