Everyone who has seen the Netflix documentary Anna Nicole Smith: You Don’t Know Me has had the same questions about the iconic 90s model: First, What happened to her daughter? and Second, Wait, she was almost in The Mask with Jim Carrey?
Yes, during one scene in the documentary, Anna is on the phone with her management, saying that she has two part offers, but both are filming simultaneously. She is “embarrassed” to have only been offered $50,000 to play with Jim Carrey, whom she refers to as “that funny guy.” So here’s what occurred after that:
What caused Anna Nicole Smith to decline a role in The Mask?
Anna Nicole Smith declined the starring role in The Mask she was offered because her agent advised her to reject the offer after the low pay ($50,000) she was offered. The film was a huge box office success, generating over $350 million worldwide and becoming the second-highest-earning superhero film at the time, catapulting (then unknown) Cameron Diaz to stardom.
“She never got over it,” her friend and film producer Ashley Wells Lewis revealed of Anna’s reaction to the film’s success. “I think it could’ve set her off the right path. It certainly didn’t hurt Cameron Diaz.”
Chuck Russell, the director of The Mask, told Variety in 2019 that conversations with Anna had never gotten that far. “We met,” he explained. “Anna was charming and bubbly, but did not have other qualities needed for the role. I never took the next step to run scenes with her.”
This statement, however, has been heavily contested by Anna’s friends. Clearly, in the Netflix documentary, you can see Anna discussing salary expectations with her agent, which is unlikely to have been discussed if they didn’t want her for the role at one point.
The Mask Trailer
Anna Nicole Smith: You Don’t Know Me is available on Netflix.
