Diaz was born in San Diego, California, the daughter of Billie (née Early), an import-export agent, and Emilio Diaz (1949–2008), who worked for the California oil company UNOCAL for more than 20 years as a field gauger, and in the pipeline department, until he retired in 1998. Her father, who was born in Los Angeles County, was a second-generation Cuban American (her grandparents settled in Tampa's Ybor City)and her mother is of English, German and Cherokee ancestry. She has one older sister, Chimene Diaz and one older brother, Michael. She attended Long Beach Polytechnic High School at the same time as rapper Snoop Dogg.
At 16, she began her career as a fashion model. Diaz signed with top modeling agency Elite Model Management. After graduating from high school, she went to work in Japan and met video director Carlos de la Torre. On her return to the U.S., she moved in with him and had a five-year relationship from the time she was 17 until she was about 21.For the next few years, her modeling took her around the world, working for contracts with major companies. She modeled for designers such as Calvin Klein and Levi's. She was featured on the cover of the July 1990 issue of Seventeen magazine.
Diaz was born in San Diego, California, the daughter of Billie (née Early), an import-export agent, and Emilio Diaz (1949–2008), who worked for the California oil company UNOCAL for more than 20 years as a field gauger, and in the pipeline department, until he retired in 1998. Her father, who was born in Los Angeles County, was a second-generation Cuban American (her grandparents settled in Tampa's Ybor City)and her mother is of English, German and Cherokee ancestry. She has one older sister, Chimene Diaz and one older brother, Michael. She attended Long Beach Polytechnic High School at the same time as rapper Snoop Dogg.
