She’s best known for her roles in romantic comedies, but Cameron Diaz is showing off another side of her personality playing a wife and mother tested by an eerie visitor in the new thriller The Box (opening on November 6). That’s not the only surprise that Cameron has up her sleeve — check out this list of 10 things you never knew about her.

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1. She’s a dedicated environmentalist.
Cameron’s upbringing in industrial Long Beach, Calif., where she suffered from childhood asthma, played a role in making her environmentally aware. “I could see the flame from the refinery burning from my bedroom window," she told Marie Claire. "I remember my dad dusting all the time from all the dirt that came in." Cameron’s eco-consciousness goes beyond driving a Prius and shopping at a farmer’s market; she made a documentary earlier this year in which she interviewed people about their knowledge of environmental issues.

2. She doesn’t like signing autographs.
Cameron has explained her reasoning, saying that if she poses for a photo with one person or gives an autograph, then dozens of people will line up. And she has reportedly lectured fans about how dumb autographs are. "It's an interesting struggle," Cameron has said, "your needs versus people's desires.”

3. She’s admitted to having plastic surgery.
Cameron broke her nose four times while surfing, but finally had it fixed — for medical, not cosmetic reasons — in 2006. “I'd never do anything else,” she insisted to British Cosmopolitan. “I think beauty comes from the inside.”

4. She was discovered at a party.
Photographer Jeff Dunas met 16-year-old Cameron at a party and offered to help her become a model. “She has an energy, an electricity in her face, a sparkle that is unmistakable,” he recalled to People. She was signed by Elite Model Management within weeks and spent the next five years circling the globe as a fashion model.