Cameron Diaz has no regrets about her decision to leave acting behind. At one point, Cameron Diaz was one of the most famous actresses in the world, coming off of big roles in popular movies like The Mask and There’s Something About Mary. She officially announced her retirement from acting in 2018 several years after she’d last been seen in a movie, choosing to focus her time and attention on her family instead.
Recently, Diaz appeared as a guest on Kevin Hart’s Peacock talk show Hart to Heart. The subject of her retirement came up, and Diaz made it clear that she’s still very satisfied with her retirement. As she explained to Hart on the program, Diaz now feels “whole” without having to worry about the constant stress that comes with being an A-list actress at the top of the box office in Hollywood.
“I feel whole. I think you probably can relate to this. When you do something at a really high level for a really long period of time, there’s a lot that – when you’re the person who’s sort of delivering on this one thing. You’re the person on the screen, you’re the person who’s ‘the talent’ – everything around you, all parts of you that isn’t that, has to be handed off to other people.”
Diaz also spoke about how she was 40 when the “lightbulb” realization lit up in her head that starring in movies wasn’t what she wanted to do anymore. As Diaz notes in the interview, she finds the art of acting itself to be something she enjoys, and remains grateful for her success she’s had in Hollywood in past years. Ultimately, however, Diaz needed to focus on herself, and a life in Hollywood was just making that too difficult.
“It’s fun to do, I love it, I love acting. I feel like I was really lucky because I had people I worked with for 20 years who I know they have my best interest but for me, I just really wanted to make my life manageable by me. My routine in a day is literally what I can manage to do by myself.”
Stepping away from acting gave Diaz the opportunity to meet her husband, Benji Madden. The two welcomed their daughter, Maddix, in 2019. Last year, Diaz addressed her retirement in a separate chat with Gwyneth Paltrow, one of her old pals from their days in Hollywood together. At that time, the retired actress also said how retiring made her feel “peace” in her soul because “I was finally taking care of myself.”
Diaz broke out in Hollywood with a movie debut at the age of 21 when she starred alongside Jim Carrey in The Mask in 1994. This led to roles in other big name movies of the 1990s like My Best Friend’s Wedding, There’s Something About Mary, and Any Given Sunday. She’d follow this up as one of the stars of the Charlie’s Angels movies and appeared in various roles throughout the 2000s, culminating with her final role in 2014’s Annie.
These days, Diaz has been working with her own wine company, Avaline. She has also penned multiple books, including the 2016 New York Times bestseller The Longevity Book. This news comes to us from Hart to Heart.