Cameron Diaz says ‘best 10 years’ of her life were during acting hiatus
Cameron Diaz has reflected on her break from acting.
The Holiday actor recently appeared on The Graham Norton Show where she opened up about her decision to quit acting back in 2014 and what resulted in her new decision to come back to the profession.
“Oh my God, I loved it. It was the best 10 years of my life,” she said on the talk show. “I was just free to just say, ‘I’m a mom, I’m a wife, I’m living my life.’”
The Charlie’s Angels alum explained that taking a break from acting was a choice that “made sense” for her family at the time and while she was still asked about taking on certain roles for a while, they eventually stopped asking.
Diaz is now starring in a Netflix movie Back in Action alongside Jamie Foxx as they play former CIA spies who are pulled back into the field after an online video exposed their identities. The movie was released on January 17.
Leading up to starring in that movie, Diaz said that she came to the conclusion that she was “privileged” to have the opportunity to act.
“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,” she said.
She added that she is currently unsure if Back in Action will be her permanent return to the entertainment industry. “This is maybe the beginning, maybe I’ll tiptoe in, maybe I’ll go gung-ho, we’ll see,” Diaz said.
“It’s here and I’m really grateful for it.”
The Sweetest Thing actor will also be returning to voice Fiona in a fifth Shrek film and has signed up to appear in dark comedy Outcome, which stars Keanu Reeves and is directed by Jonah Hill.
This isn’t the first time the Shrek actor has spoken out about her decision to quit acting. Back in October 2024, during an appearance at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Summit, Diaz said: “It felt like the right thing for me to reclaim my own life and I just really didn’t care about anything else.”
“Nobody’s opinion, nobody’s success, no one’s offer, no one’s anything could change my mind about my decision of taking care of myself and building the life that I really wanted to have. I think it really comes to, ‘What are you passionate about?’ For me, it was to build my family.”
Diaz previously discussed her decision to semi-retire on an episode of Gwyneth Paltrow‘s Goop Health: The Sessions.
The actor said that she “had gone so hard for so long, working, making films and it’s such a grind,” adding: “When you’re making a movie, it’s a perfect excuse — they own you. You’re there for 12 hours a day for months on end and you have no time for anything else.”
She said that being in the spotlight was “intense,” adding: “There’s a lot of energy coming at you at all times when you’re really visible as an actor and doing press and putting yourself out there.”
