Bad Teacher (2011)
- The original script for Bad Teacher was written over a decade before production finally began in 2011.
- Before Cameron Diaz was cast, several major A-list stars turned down the lead role because they felt the script was too risky.
- During the filming of Bad Teacher, Cameron Diaz improvised one of the most famous lines in the movie.
Bad Teacher is a 2011 American comedy directed by Jake Kasdan. Cameron Diaz stars as Elizabeth Halsey, a lazy, manipulative, gold-digging middle school teacher who spends her class time showing movies while she naps, drinks, and schemes. When her wealthy fiancee dumps her, Elizabeth sets her sights on a new substitute teacher, played by Justin Timberlake, and competes with the annoyingly enthusiastic, genuinely caring teacher Amy Squirrel, played by Lucy Punch, for his attention while trying to raise money for breast implants by any means necessary.
Cameron Diaz committed fully to playing a genuinely terrible person, and the comedy derived from the shock of seeing a protagonist behave with such shameless selfishness in a school setting. Jason Segel appeared as the gym teacher Russell Gettis, whose genuine affection for Elizabeth provided the film's unlikely romantic resolution. Bad Teacher earned $216 million worldwide on a $20 million budget.
