Everything Cameron Diaz Has Said About Stepping Away From Acting Over the Years

It's never really over. Before Cameron Diaz came out of retirement, she officially took a step back from the limelight in 2018 after four years without a new movie release.

At the time, the California native reunited with her The Sweetest Thing costars Selma Blair and Christina Applegate and the Dead to Me star pondered why it had been a while since they all hung out together.

“Goddamn it, why not?” Diaz replied. “I mean, I’m down. I’m literally doing nothing. … That’s so awesome. I’m totally down.”

When Applegate dished that she was “semi-retired” and, therefore, had more time to catch up, the Charlie’s Angels actor echoed her sentiments. “I’m semi-retired, too, and I am actually retired, so I would love to see you ladies,” she said at the time.

After she confirmed her retirement, the former actress was outspoken about how she has a better life balance and sense of peace since walking away from the Hollywood scene.

Diaz discussed her choice with Kevin Hart during an August 2021 appearance on his talk show, Hart to Heart.

“When you do something at a really high level for a long period of time, when you’re the person that’s sort of delivering on this one thing, everything around, all parts of you that isn’t that, has to sort of be handed off to other people,” Diaz told the comedian. “Just, the management of me as a human being… Cameron Diaz is a machine. But for my personal, spiritual self, I was realizing that one part of me that functioned at a high level wasn’t enough.”

[jwplayer Hria8Pm7-l3ahXupL]

While the Longevity Book author noted that she still “loves” acting, she realized there were other parts of her life that she wasn’t focused on.

“I just looked around and there were so many parts of my life that I wasn’t touching and that I wasn’t managing, and I couldn’t really manage, because everything was so massive,” she continued.

The Avaline Wine owner came to this realization after turning 40 and decided to instead focus more on her family and personal life.

“I have a lot of great friends and incredible people who supported me for so long, and I believe it’s about the people you have in your life who help you keep things moving,” Diaz said during the Peacock interview. “I had some amazing friends but I had other people who were not serving my best interests always, but you don’t have time to figure those things out if you are just going with blinders on, you’re in the tunnel.”

After welcoming daughter Raddix in December 2019 with husband Benji Madden, the star sought to primarily focus on motherhood.

“Being a wife and a mother has been the most … fulfilling part of my life so far,” Diaz said a February 2021 appearance on SiriusXM’s “Quarantined With Bruce” show. “I waited for this … so I didn’t have any distractions. Like, I can’t imagine [working now]. As a mother with my child, to have to be on a movie set that takes 14 hours, 16 hours, of my time away from her — I just couldn’t.” She continued, “I personally feel like that I wouldn’t be the mom that I am now had I chosen to do that at any other time in my life.”

However, the San Diego native revealed in June 2022 that she got an offer too good to refuse. She announced that she would step in front of the camera for the first time since 2014's Annie. Back In Action, costarring Jamie Foxx, is set to begin production before the end of the year.

Scroll below to find out everything Diaz has said about her life since retiring from Hollywood:

[podcast_block]

It's never really over. Before Cameron Diaz came out of retirement, she officially took a step back from the limelight in 2018 after four years without a new movie release.

At the time, the California native reunited with her The Sweetest Thing costars Selma Blair and Christina Applegate and the Dead to Me star pondered why it had been a while since they all hung out together.

“Goddamn it, why not?” Diaz replied. “I mean, I’m down. I’m literally doing nothing. … That’s so awesome. I’m totally down.”

When Applegate dished that she was “semi-retired” and, therefore, had more time to catch up, the Charlie’s Angels actor echoed her sentiments. “I’m semi-retired, too, and I am actually retired, so I would love to see you ladies,” she said at the time.

After she confirmed her retirement, the former actress was outspoken about how she has a better life balance and sense of peace since walking away from the Hollywood scene.

Diaz discussed her choice with Kevin Hart during an August 2021 appearance on his talk show, Hart to Heart.

“When you do something at a really high level for a long period of time, when you’re the person that’s sort of delivering on this one thing, everything around, all parts of you that isn’t that, has to sort of be handed off to other people,” Diaz told the comedian. “Just, the management of me as a human being… Cameron Diaz is a machine. But for my personal, spiritual self, I was realizing that one part of me that functioned at a high level wasn’t enough.”

[jwplayer Hria8Pm7-l3ahXupL]

While the Longevity Book author noted that she still “loves” acting, she realized there were other parts of her life that she wasn’t focused on.

“I just looked around and there were so many parts of my life that I wasn’t touching and that I wasn’t managing, and I couldn’t really manage, because everything was so massive,” she continued.

The Avaline Wine owner came to this realization after turning 40 and decided to instead focus more on her family and personal life.

“I have a lot of great friends and incredible people who supported me for so long, and I believe it’s about the people you have in your life who help you keep things moving,” Diaz said during the Peacock interview. “I had some amazing friends but I had other people who were not serving my best interests always, but you don’t have time to figure those things out if you are just going with blinders on, you’re in the tunnel.”

After welcoming daughter Raddix in December 2019 with husband Benji Madden, the star sought to primarily focus on motherhood.

“Being a wife and a mother has been the most … fulfilling part of my life so far,” Diaz said a February 2021 appearance on SiriusXM’s “Quarantined With Bruce” show. “I waited for this … so I didn’t have any distractions. Like, I can’t imagine [working now]. As a mother with my child, to have to be on a movie set that takes 14 hours, 16 hours, of my time away from her — I just couldn’t.” She continued, “I personally feel like that I wouldn’t be the mom that I am now had I chosen to do that at any other time in my life.”

However, the San Diego native revealed in June 2022 that she got an offer too good to refuse. She announced that she would step in front of the camera for the first time since 2014's Annie. Back In Action, costarring Jamie Foxx, is set to begin production before the end of the year.

Scroll below to find out everything Diaz has said about her life since retiring from Hollywood:

[podcast_block]

During a May 2020 Instagram Live, The There’s Something About Mary star answered fan questions about the terms of her retirement.


“I am not going to do more films at the moment,” she responded to a fan question. “But I am doing a lot of Instagram Lives because I think it’s a lot of fun to get to connect with you guys and say hi.”

 

She spoke with Naomi Campbell on her YouTube series, No Filter With Naomi, in October 2020, explaining that she’s “OK” with not acting for several years.

“There’s no part of me that’s like, ‘I gotta get back in front of the camera’ or anything like that ... I don’t feel that way,” she explained to the former supermodel. “That’s not to say I won’t someday, but I’m very resolved in where I’m at right now."

As a result, she became more self-reliant to take care of herself and be “an adult."


“I learned a lot about myself," she told Paltrow during the interview. "It’s painful. It hurts. It’s scary. I credit Benji a lot. I broke that mirror about a thousand times when he put it up to me.”

 

Speaking with Yahoo Finance in March 2021, the former actress revealed her priorities were on her new business ventures and family life.

“It's just a different time in my life now,” she told the outlet. “Now I'm here and this is the most fulfilling thing that I've ever done in my life. [To] have a family and be married and have our little nucleus of a family. It's just completely the best thing. … I don't have what it takes to give making a movie what it needs to be made. All of my energy is here."

Diaz also revealed to Paltrow that she had realized she had “wanted different things” from her life.


“I had gone so hard for so long, working, making films and it’s such a grind,” she explained. “I didn’t really make any space for my personal life.”

After her retirement, she told Hart in August 2021 that she wanted to better self-manage her schedule.

“For me, I just really wanted to make my life manageable by me,” she explained. “My routine in a day is literally what I can manage to do by myself. It’s the best feeling. I feel whole.”

After stepping back, Diaz told Gwenyth Paltrow she had “a peace” because she was “finally taking care of [herself].”

“I feel grounded and light,” she said during an August 2021 episode of “In Goop Health: The Sessions.” “It’s so intense to work at that level and be that public and put yourself out there. There’s a lot of energy coming at you at all times when you’re really visible as an actor. I’m sensitive to some energy and not others. I do get the overwhelming energy of the attention that’s being put toward me.”

She further explained to the Goop founder that because actors are often “infantilized” and constantly taken care of, she needed to break away from that world.


“Overwhelming your life becomes so narrow," the Mask star said. "Everybody’s doing things for you and you’re catered around. I never felt really, truly comfortable with that. I understood it was part of the job, and for me, I needed to become self-sufficient again.”

When Diaz signed on for Back In Action in June 2022, Foxx surprised her with expert advice. “I’m so anxious right now,” Diaz told her pal. “I’m, like, pacing the room. … I feel excited, but I don’t know how to do this, ya know?”

The actor revealed he had a friend on the phone to offer some advice. NFL star Tom Brady joined the call to give the actress "a few tips on how to unretire" since he is "relatively successful at unretiring.”

The Avaline cofounder said that the athlete’s perspective was “exactly what I needed.”

“When you’re doing something that you know and you’ve done well and you know how it works and it’s consumed your whole life for so long, it’s kind of a nice thing to kind of go, ‘You know what? Let me just step back for a second, take a look at what the whole picture looks like for me,’” Diaz said during a July 2022 CBS Mornings interview. “[I asked], ‘What are the things that I could do better and be more engaged with that would make me feel more whole?’ And I did that.”

The Mask actress noted that she did “miss aspects of acting or making movies” during her eight-year break. “Making movies is a particular skill set that is fun to exercise and be a part of,” she explained. “But yeah, it’s a different lifestyle and you kind of have to be ready to do that.”

Diaz revealed that coming back to Hollywood for her upcoming movie with Foxx meant she’d have to find a new work-life balance. “I mean, I miss aspects of acting, or making movies,” she shared. “Yeah, making movies is a particular skill set that is fun to exercise and be a part of. But yeah, it’s a different lifestyle and you kind of have to be ready to do that.”