Carpe Diaz

SPOTLIGHT

It makes sense that Cam.

eron Diaz—the former Elite model who tantalized Jim Carrey into various states of facial disarray in The Mask—is getting pegged for dark comedies. "My sense of humor is twisted," the ebullient 23-year-old admits. "Some things that are dark and not everybody gets I have a good laugh at. It probably comes from my father telling me to go play on the freeway." Kidding, of course. But suddenly Cameron's in The Last Supper, about a clique of ultra-liberals who take political correctness to murderous extremes; Head Above Water, in which she and Harvey Keitel drag a corpse around, for complicated reasons; and Feeling Minnesota, which has her getting browbeaten and shot at by her Mobaccountant husband—but rescued by Keanu Reeves. "It was hurtful material that was kind of painful to do at times," says Diaz. "When you get home, you sit there thinking, Nobody likes me, they all want to beat me up." And Courtney Love has a supporting role.

Born and raised in Southern California, the actress is a stunning mix of Cuban, German, English, and Native American ancestry, but somehow says she's loveless at the moment. She is married to her career right now anyway and—as it burgeons out of the darkness— has even gotten to do the romantic-comedy thing. She's one of the ones in Edward Burns's She's the One. "It's similar to The Brothers McMullen," she says, "but we actually had money to make it like a real movie." Most interesting of all, Diaz feels there might be a Mask sequel, but not until Carrey's available again—"probably in 2010. I'll be wearing a major support bra to hold it all up!" Sounds safe—just don't play on the freeway.

MICHAEL MUSTO