Back in Action' director Seth Gordon tells PEOPLE in an exclusive interview that Cameron Diaz and Jamie Foxx supported each other throughout filming — when the actress marked her return to acting with her first movie in over a decade and the actor had a medical emergency during production in April 2023.

Back in Action' director Seth Gordon tells PEOPLE in an exclusive interview that Jamie Foxx was Cameron Diaz's 'biggest cheerleader' as she returned to acting with her first movie in more than a decade.

It’s a really unexpected coincidence that the title and some of the themes and her character’s situation [as a retired spy turned mom] lined up with real life. It’s almost as if Back in Action was meant to coax her out of retirement, but I swear it wasn’t. It’s just extraordinary timing and really good fortune and Jamie’s access, frankly.

The action-comedy overcame more than the usual amount of hurdles on the way to the screen, all the way up to its New York premiere being canceled in solidarity with the troubling times in Los Angeles.

Cameron Diaz and Jamie Foxx, the stars of Netflix's action film Back in Action, also led in one of the most quotable football movies ever made.

Back in Action’ director Seth Gordon praises Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz’s friendship on set of her first movie in a decade

Seth Gordon upped his game with Back in Action, starring Cameron Diaz and Jamie Foxx. You may know Seth Gordon for directing the recent Baywatch remake, but his latest movie, Back in Action, is Cameron Diaz's acting comeback and teams her with Jamie Foxx.

You'll see the "third-act 'twist' coming a mile off", said Ben Travis in Empire, and Andrew Scott and Kyle Chandler are "wasted in insubstantial roles". But Back in Action is a fun, "fizzily watchable" treat. A word to Diaz: "Next time don't leave it so long, eh?"