Cameron Diaz is totally our sort of girl, but admits she has some regrets - like still getting spots at 35...

Reproduced from June 08 issue of Cosmopolitan magazine. This month's issue on sale now.

Want to know something? Cameron Diaz is late for everything. So imagine our surprise when, 30 minutes before our cover shoot at Hollywood's Smashbox Studios, she bounds in with a, 'Hi, ciao, hello, bonjour, hola, what's up?'

In jeans and a grey T-shirt, hair scraped back and not a smidgen of make-up in sight, Cameron looks beautiful, in a low-key kind of way. 'Let's do this and have fun,' she laughs, flashing her trademark California-girl grin and singing along to Prince's 1994 hit Pussy Control.

It's exactly this sunny-side-up attitude that catapulted Cameron into superstardom 14 years ago - and, 32 films later, has kept her there. She's now one of the highest paid actresses in Hollywood and, from playing a pickpocket in Gangs Of New York, to a drunk dumpee in her latest film, the hilarious What Happens In Vegas, you just know 35-year-old Cameron does it all with a smile on her face.

It's not just her career, either. Even her split last year from boyfriend of four years, Justin Timberlake, couldn't dampen her sexy and successful spirit. 'I'm just in a really good place right now,' she explains as we sit down for lunch (for her, a chicken Caesar wrap - she's not keen on salad, she says, but loves chicken). 'I feel so much stronger than I used to and I've learnt a lot over the past few years.'

So what's her secret? Cameron talks about what she's discovered about love, marriage and men - and reveals why she now feels sexier and more successful than ever before.

Since splitting from Justin, you've been linked to singer John Mayer, PS I Love You actor Gerard Butler and even your long-time ex Matt Dillon. It seems people can't accept that you're just...single.

Cameron Diaz: [Laughs] 'That's Hollywood for you. I tend to steer clear of gossip magazines.'

Never tempted to take a teensy peek?

Cameron Diaz: 'No, I hate reading about other people, as well - it makes me sick to my stomach. The way I see it, if I'm going to believe what they say about somebody else's life, then I have to believe what they write about my life - and I know that stuff isn't real.'

You must want to see what they say about your films, though?

Cameron Diaz: 'Actually, no. Again, if you read reviews of your work and believe the good stuff, you have to be willing to believe the bad, too. So I never read reviews for anything I do.'

So how do you measure your success?

Cameron Diaz: 'It's a personal thing - the relationship I have with my work is how I assess whether or not I've done a good job. What I feel I brought to the collaboration of creating a film. Beyond that, the people that matter most to me are the audience. I'm very fortunate to be recognised by people who see my films. The feedback I get from them is the most valuable I could ever ask for.'

But will you be reading this?

Cameron Diaz: 'Definitely. I'm always curious to see the pictures when I've done a shoot. But I don't take it too seriously. I like to do a good job and hopefully provide an image that people want to see - as I do when I make films. I like to have a good time and I enjoy seeing the way that moment translates from how it was for me when it happened.'

You're 35 now. Does ageing bother you?

Cameron Diaz: 'No way! I'm enjoying it. I feel I get better with age. I mean, sure, I look at pictures of myself when I was 21 and think, 'Wow, I didn't look so bad.' But I take more care of myself now, so in a way I feel like I look better than I did then. I feel good about myself now. Does that make sense?'

Totally. Have you had to make any big changes to your lifestyle?

Cameron Diaz: 'I used to be able to eat and drink anything I wanted - fried chicken, onion rings, half a bottle of wine - then go right to bed. But as you get older, your insides rebel and go, 'Uh-uh, bi-atch! Gonna eat cheese fries? See how you sleep!' And you're tossing and turning all night. I look at girls in their early twenties now and realise the one thing we all have in common is that, if we don't die young, we all get older. Even teenage girls will be 35 one day - and will be looking back at their photos like I do.'

You've said you're happier in your thirties than in your twenties. How come?

Cameron Diaz: 'I feel stronger and more confident. I think as you get older you have much more to offer people. There's great value in knowing what you can offer and I definitely feel there is strength in that. I don't think my 25-year-old self would have been able to provide the same things as I can now.'

Is there anything you've had to compromise along the way?

Cameron Diaz: 'Not really. All I know is we can't physically stay young forever. All we can do is stay young in spirit, so that's what I'm doing.

I feel I'm ageless when it comes to spirit. I feel that I hold a lot of the same inspiration that I did in my youth, as well as a new inspiration that comes only with age; it's the wisdom I've collected along the way. The marriage of those two things has made me a more fulfilled, more satisfied person because I've been able to maintain that spirit. So I look at ageing in that way.'

Do you follow the cleanse/tone/moisturise mantra religiously now?

Cameron Diaz: 'Oh, definitely - I have to because I wear a lot of make-up in my job. Not only that, but when I'm working I'm out and about and my skin suffers from everything that's coming at it all day long. Sometimes I'll look in the mirror and be like, 'Damn, where did that come from?' Seriously! I'm 35 years old. When is this going to stop?! So now I wash my face every night and I never, ever leave the house without sunblock on.'

What are your views on plastic surgery?

Cameron Diaz: 'Urrgh! Have you seen those shows where ordinary people want to look like Britney Spears or Brad Pitt? What on earth possesses them to want to destroy their own character? To go under the knife to do that is sick. I had to have work on my nose [due to a surfing accident in 2005] but I'd never do anything else. I think beauty comes from the inside.'

You've got loads of famous friends. Who do you go to for advice?

Cameron Diaz: 'My older sister Chimene is my closest friend. We share everything and I feel really fortunate to have that. I have an amazing group of friends, as well, so if my sister's line is busy I've always got several other people I can call. Finding someone to ask is never a problem. I'm really lucky with the wealth of friendships I have.'

One of those friends is Drew Barrymore, who sparked rumours that she's getting hitched to Live Free Or Die Hard star Justin Long. Do you want to get married?

Cameron Diaz: [Long pause] 'I don't know. There are a lot of ways to approach commitment and relationships, and marriage is just one of them. I think partnerships are a wonderful thing, in whatever form they take, and I definitely want that in my life, whether or not it's in the traditional sense.'

What about kids? It seems everyone in Hollywood has 'baby fever' right now.

Cameron Diaz: 'I think it's wonderful when people, not just in Hollywood, make the decision to bring children into the world. Right now, I'm not at that point. But I am very interested in making sure we can sustain our planet so all our children will have clean water and air. That's very important - for me and also for our future generations.'

Let's talk about your new movie, What Happens In Vegas. We love it.

Cameron Diaz: 'Me, too! The day I got the script, I just laughed. I saw immediately how funny it could be on screen.'

You star alongside Ashton Kutcher. What was he like?

Cameron Diaz: 'He's great fun. Once I knew he was a part of the project, I really wanted to do it. I was already a fan of his and knew he'd be so funny. We met and I knew it would be really fun to do the film if we got the right director, which we did with Tom Vaughan.'

You guys kiss. A lot.

Cameron Diaz: [Laughs] 'It's a funny and weird job, isn't it?'

Yep.

Cameron Diaz: 'But as actors we commit ourselves to certain emotions to tell a story. It's uncomfortable at first being intimate with somebody who isn't your partner, but it's a job and there's a certain level of professionalism that's essential. You're in a room with 50 people, plus a camera, so it's all make-believe.'

Your character Joy is so much fun. Any similarities with yourself?

Cameron Diaz: 'Are you kidding? I'm hilarious! How can you ask that question? [Laughs] I think the kind of funny I am in real life isn't the kind of funny I am on screen, where I'm playing a character and it's somebody else's story. It's way easier to be funny in real life than it is on screen - but I usually leave that to other people and play the straight one, which is how I see myself anyway.'

We never had you down as the 'straight one'!

Cameron Diaz: 'Well, what I mean is that, as an actor, I bring to a film my sense of humour and understanding of what's funny, even if it's not me being the funny person up there.'

In the movie, Joy ends up marrying her one-night stand. Ever had a morning-after-the-night-before disaster?

Cameron Diaz: [Laughs] 'I think we've all had that moment of waking up in the morning in horror after partying a little too much the night before. I've definitely had that feeling of, 'What the...? What just happened?' But certainly nothing like what happens in the movie.'

What, you mean you wouldn't get hitched hours after meeting someone?!

Cameron Diaz: [Laughs] 'No, no, no! Well, one should never say never, but I can't imagine myself ever being in that situation.'

What did you think of Vegas?

Cameron Diaz: 'I love the city for what it is - the good and the bad. Well, not bad so much as naughty.'

Sounds like you enjoy a flutter...

Cameron Diaz: [Laughs] 'Yeah, I love gambling. But I don't like to lose money, so I don't really call it gambling, I call it 'playing'. The way I look at it, I'm paying for a certain amount of entertainment. I love dominoes, too - it's funny that it's the latest thing to do in Hollywood. It used to be a tradition for my family at Christmas, but it's now stopped because there are so many of us. I want to re-implement it, though. I miss it.'