- Cameron Diaz has said her decadelong retirement from acting was “the best 10 years” of her life.
- Diaz stopped acting in 2014 but recently returned to star in “Back In Action” with Jamie Foxx.
- Diaz isn’t the only celebrity to have walked back on the decision to retire.
Cameron Diaz has said the decade she spent in retirement from acting was “the best 10 years” of her life, but she thinks she is now ready to get back into the industry.
Appearing on “The Graham Norton Show,” the 52-year-old actor reflected on her decision to take an extended hiatus from her career.
“Oh my God, I loved it. It was the best 10 years of my life,” Diaz said. “I was just free to just say, ‘I’m a mom, I’m a wife, I’m living my life.'”
She said that stepping back from acting “made sense for my family,” and after a while, “people stopped asking” her to take on roles.
“It was so lovely,” she added.
However, Diaz, who stars in the new Netflix movie “Back in Action” alongside Jamie Foxx, said she realized that getting to entertain people for a living is a “priviledge” which ultimately led her to unretire.
“I just said to myself, if I just let this go, all of this goodwill, all of this which I got to build over so much time, the passion that I have for entertaining people and making movies, if I don’t engage in that again be grateful for it, I would be a fool.”
John Wilson/Netflix
As for whether her return to acting is permanent, Diaz said: “This is maybe the beginning, maybe I’ll tiptoe in, maybe I’ll go gung-ho, we’ll see. It’s here and I’m really grateful for it.”
Per her IMDb page, she has two upcoming projects: She will return to voice Princess Fiona in “Shrek 5” and will also star in a new Jonah Hill-helmed film titled “Outcome.”
A representative for Diaz did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider, which was sent outside regular working hours.
Diaz isn’t the first actor to have walked back on the decision to retire.
Jim Carrey, 63, announced in 2022 that he was retiring from acting after “Sonic the Hedgehog 2.” But he returned to work last year, reprising his role in the third film.
Speaking to the Associated Press, Carrey said: “I came back to this universe because, first of all, I get to play a genius, which is a bit of a stretch. And I just, I bought a lot of stuff, and I need the money, frankly.”
Diaz became one of Hollywood’s biggest stars after making her debut opposite Carrey in the superhero comedy film “The Mask.”
The film went on to become one of the top 10 highest-grossing films of 1994, making more than $350 million at the worldwide box office.
Over the next few years, Diaz landed more and more roles, starring in the likes of “There’s Something About Mary,” “Charlie’s Angels,” and “The Holiday.”
Discussing how she spent the time since her last starring role in 2014’s “Annie” remake, Diaz told the “Still Watching Netflix” YouTube channel that she had focused on raising her kids.
“That was what I was putting most of my focus on if I was doing anything other than just sort of being a mom and living my day-to-day,” Diaz said. “And that was pretty much it. I’m just trying to stay alive, just like every other mother. I’m just trying to keep it going.”
Diaz married Benji Madden of the rock band Good Charlotte in 2015. They welcomed their daughter, Raddix, in 2019 and their son, Cardinal, in 2024.
