Cameron Diaz surprised us all when she married Benji Madden this week, but there has been lots of debate about which is more noteworthy: the fact that she and Benji tied the knot after seven months of dating or the fact that she and Benji tied the knot after she spent so many years talking about her aversion to marriage. Cameron has been in previous relationships with Justin Timberlake, Alex Rodriguez, and Matt Dillon and was engaged to Jared Leto back in 2000 but never held back on her feelings about the institution of marriage. Cameron is, of course, entitled to change her mind on the matter, just like George Clooney, another superstar who was formerly against marriage until meeting "the one." Keep reading for Cameron's candid comments regarding her unwillingness to be somebody's wife.
"I think the big misconception in our society is that we're supposed to meet the one when we're 18, and we're supposed to get married to them and love them for the rest of our lives. Bullsh*t." - Stylist magazine, 2010
"I'm not looking for a husband or marriage or not not looking for that stuff. I'm living, not thinking what I should or shouldn't be doing with my life." - Marie Claire, 2014
"Who would want to be with the same person for 80 years? Why not break it up a little bit? I think people get freaked out about getting married and spending 20 or 30 years sleeping with the same person, but if that's the case, don't do it. Have someone for five years and another person for another five years. Life is long and lucky and yes, love might last forever, but you don't always live with the person you love forever." - Stylist magazine, 2010
"The mystique and the romance of a big wedding are lost on me. I don't think that I could ever do something that extravagant. I am not much of a planner. I would probably make the phone call 20 minutes before the bus leaves for the chapel and ask if anyone is available to come. That's probably how my wedding is going to end up." - Parade, 2010
"I think we have to make our own rules. I don't think we should live our lives in relationships based off of old traditions that don't suit our world any longer." - Maxim, June 2011
"I thought I was going to be married and have two children by the time I was 21. I think I felt I had to model my life after my mother's. But then my career was starting to take off and there were still so many things I wanted to do. So that dream for me was shattered early on. After that I never put another time line on anything in my life." - Redbook, 2012
"I think a lot of people are married to people that they're not romantic with anymore. I just didn't ever marry anybody that I then had to get divorced from. We break up. We move on." - Elle, 2011
"A lot of people chase after it because they've been told, 'This equals happiness.' They chase it, they get it, and they find out, 'Why did I think this was going to make me happy? I'm miserable!' I don't know if anyone is really naturally monogamous. We all have the same instincts as animals. But we live in a society where it's been ingrained in us to do these things." - InStyle, 2014