When The Sweetest Thing debuted in 2002, it was a who's who of Hollywood at the time. Cameron Diaz, Christina Applegate, and Selma Blair star in the movie, and they seemed to have an absolute blast while doing it. But more than two decades later, a lot has changed for these much-loved stars. All three women have left the glitz and glam of Hollywood behind in the name of health and family.
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Cameron plays Christina Walters in the film.
The 50-year-old may have been looking for love in all the wrong places in the rom-com, but real life took another turn for her. She met her now-husband, Benji Madden, in 2015, eventually marrying the rocker and announcing the arrival in December 2019 of a daughter named Raddix.
The long days and nights spent away from her family had Cameron second-guessing her hectic Hollywood career, ultimately prompting her to retire in 2018. She's been dipping her toes back into movie making again this year, filming the Netflix movie Back in Action. But since her costar Jamie Foxx suffered a medical emergency on the set in April, the project's future is uncertain.
Selma disappeared from showbiz while she quietly began fighting a medical battle.
In 2018, she revealed she had been suffering from MS, unbeknownst to herself and her medical providers. The former actress told Vanity Fair that she first started experiencing symptoms as a child but never had a name for what she was going through until decades later.
The condition prompted her to take a break from filming.
With roles in movies including Hellboy, Legally Blonde, and Cruel Intentions, Selma was poised to be a top name in the industry, but then her symptoms made it harder for her to continue acting. She eventually had to step back from the career she worked so hard to build.
Fortunately, it may have been those symptoms that helped her get her costar Christina diagnosed with the very same autoimmune condition.
Christina credits her longtime friend with urging her to see a doctor.
In November 2022, Christina told British Vogue that Selma gently prodded her to get tested for MS after the pair had a candid conversation about Christina's health. "I was sitting in Selma's living room, our children playing, and I told Selma I'd been having this weird tingling in my feet," Christina recalled. "She said, 'You must get tested for MS.'"
Christina said her doctor doubted she had the condition at first, but she was later diagnosed after experiencing worsening symptoms. Now, she credits her Sweetest Thing costar with giving her "a better quality of life."
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All three women seem happy with their choices.
It may be hard to believe that anyone would walk away from a Hollywood career, let alone three women who worked so hard to become established names in the industry, but none of them are looking back on their decision with an ounce of regret.
It just goes to show that fame and fortune are no substitute for peace, and it seems that's exactly what the cast of The Sweetest Thing was desperately in search of.
