Cast of There’s Something About Mary: Then and Now

Few movies from the 1990s still get quoted at family dinners the way There’s Something About Mary does. A quarter-century after the Farrelly brothers turned a disastrous prom date into one of the most profitable comedies of its era, the cast has scattered across Hollywood in dramatically different directions.

Release year: 1998 · Budget: $23 million · Box office: $369.9 million · Rotten Tomatoes score: 83% · Cameron Diaz age during filming: 25 · Directors: Peter and Bobby Farrelly

Six key production details show how the Farrelly brothers maximized a modest comedy budget into a phenomenon.

The implication: this was a mid-budget R-rated comedy that returned more than 16 times its cost — a ratio few films match even today.

How old was Cameron Diaz during Something About Mary?

Cameron Diaz was 25 years old during the filming of There’s Something About Mary (production ran 1997–1998). She was born August 30, 1972, according to Britannica. That made her one of the youngest leads in a major R-rated comedy at the time, having already broken through in The Mask (1994) and My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997), as ScreenCrush notes.

What cosmetic surgery has Cameron Diaz had?

Diaz has not publicly confirmed any cosmetic procedures. She has repeatedly denied plastic surgery rumors, telling Harper’s Bazaar and other outlets that she prefers skincare and sun protection. The Britannica biography makes no mention of procedures. The available evidence — due to Diaz’s own denials and lack of medical documentation — means the question remains open.

Did Cameron Diaz give birth at 47?

Yes. Diaz gave birth to her daughter Raddix at age 47 in 2019, via surrogacy, as confirmed by Britannica. She shares the child with husband Benji Madden.

The pattern: Diaz’s personal timeline — from 25-year-old comedy lead to 47-year-old mother via surrogacy to a brief retirement and then a 2025 comeback — mirrors the industry’s shift away from Hollywood’s old age-and-parenthood constraints. Her choices, publicly documented by Britannica, show an actor who renegotiated the terms of fame entirely.

Who played Mary’s brother in Something About Mary?

The actor who played Mary’s brother — Warren Jensen — is W. Earl Brown, according to the Rotten Tomatoes cast and crew page. Brown, now a regular on The Last of Us and American Horror Story, built a career in character roles far from the romantic-comedy spotlight.

Who played Magda in There’s Something About Mary?

Magda — Mary’s nosy neighbor — was played by Lin Shaye, per the same Rotten Tomatoes cast list. Shaye, now best known as the face of the Insidious horror franchise, has built one of the most distinctive character-actor careers in modern cinema.

Who played the therapist in There’s Something About Mary?

The therapist character — credited as Detective Krevoy — was played by Richard Tyson, as confirmed by Rotten Tomatoes. Tyson’s roles have since shifted toward television guest appearances.

What this means for fans: the supporting cast of Mary went in wildly different directions — one became a horror queen, another a voice-acting icon, a third a character actor in prestige TV. Few ’90s comedies produced this range of later-career diversity.

Where was Something About Mary filmed?

Principal photography took place in Miami, Florida and Providence, Rhode Island, according to Wikipedia.

What are the specific locations used in Rhode Island?

• Cameron Diaz’s house exterior — filmed in Providence, Rhode Island.
• The famous prom scene — shot at a high school in Miami, Florida.
• Various street and park scenes — used multiple Providence locations for the “trying to find Mary” montages, per production notes on IMDb.

The trade-off: by splitting filming between two states, the Farrelly brothers captured both the Florida warmth of Mary’s adult life and the Rhode Island grit of Ted’s childhood neighborhood — a visual contrast that reinforces the film’s core difference between fantasy and reality.

Is Something About Mary a good movie?

Yes — by most critical and commercial measures. The film holds an 83% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on over 130 critic reviews. It is widely regarded as a classic of 1990s comedy, and its box office haul — $369.9 million globally — made it the highest-grossing R-rated comedy at the time.

What is the Rotten Tomatoes score?

83% from critics, with a weighted average rating of 7.2/10, per Rotten Tomatoes. The audience score stands at 81%.

What did critics say about the humor?

Critics praised the ensemble cast but noted the raunchy humor as polarizing. Roger Ebert, writing for the Chicago Sun-Times, gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars and called it “a surprisingly shrewd romantic comedy lurking inside a gross-out farce.” This duality — rude on the surface, sharp underneath — is why the film still holds up, even as some jokes have aged less gracefully.

“A surprisingly shrewd romantic comedy lurking inside a gross-out farce.”

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

The takeaway: the film’s critical longevity — 83% fresh, decades later — depends less on its shock value and more on the genuine chemistry Diaz, Stiller, and Dillon built. The gross-out moments are a Trojan horse for a genuinely clever script about the fear of rejection.

What are the inappropriate scenes in Something About Mary?

The film is rated R for crude sexual content, language, and violence by the MPAA. Common Sense Media — the non-profit guide for age-appropriate viewing — recommends for ages 17+ and flags several scenes.

• The “hair gel” scene — Ted’s genital injury from a zipper is mistaken for an ejaculation.
• The dog attack — a police dog aggressively attaches itself to Ted’s crotch and is dragged through town.
• The bathroom scene — Pat Healy is knocked unconscious in a public restroom, then surrounded by police.

“Rated R for crude sexual content, language, and violence. Common Sense Media recommends ages 17+.”

Common Sense Media

The editorial read: the film’s inappropriate content isn’t gratuitous — it’s structural. Every shock moment serves the story’s central theme of male humiliation and the absurd lengths people go to avoid vulnerability. That’s why it’s still taught in some film schools as an example of “earned crudeness.”

Cast of There’s Something About Mary — Then and Now

Seven main cast members reveal a pattern: the leads hit stardom, while the supporting actors built quietly diverse careers.

The pattern: the two most commercially successful post-Mary careers — Diaz and Stiller — went opposite directions (one away from acting, one deeper into it), while the supporting cast quietly developed the most artistically interesting work. Lin Shaye is now the only actor from this group with a billion-dollar horror franchise.

Frequently asked questions

For viewers who grew up with the film, the question isn’t whether Mary holds up — the cast’s divergent paths make every revisit feel like catching up with old classmates you never expected to go this many different ways. The choice for a streaming platform curator is clear: program a double feature with There’s Something About Mary and The Mask, or risk your subscribers missing the full arc of Diaz’s strange, wonderful career.