Cameron Diaz opened up about why she decided to return to acting after a 10-year break.
The last time we saw Diaz on screen was in the 2014 musical comedy ‘Annie.’ Four years later, in 2018, she quietly stepped away from Hollywood.
Diaz explained her reasons for quitting at a recent event. She said she needed to reclaim her own life and didn’t care about anyone’s opinion. “For me, it was just something I had to do. It felt like something I had to do 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,” she shared in a video posted on social media.
“It felt like the right thing for me to reclaim my own life. And I just really didn’t care about anything else,” actress Cameron Diaz said onstage at the #FortuneMPW Summit in Laguna Niguel. https://t.co/i7TB1hXKnU pic.twitter.com/uhBVpwz4mR
— FORTUNE (@FortuneMagazine) October 15, 2024
Diaz focused on her family life with her husband Benji Madden during her time away from acting. The couple welcomed their first child via surrogate in 2019, and they had a second child in March of this year. Diaz says her family was ready for her to return to work now. “People would be like, ‘It’s over’ and I’d be like, ‘No it’s not, it’s not over for me,'” Diaz admits. “So I had to push myself.”
The actress says her husband also encouraged her. “My husband and I – my husband, who is the best – he was like, ‘You’ve been supporting us and building the family’ and supporting him in his businesses, [and] he’s like, ‘It’s time for us to support you and let mommy ascend and do her thing.’ He’s like, ‘Let me see you do it, girl.’ I was like, ‘Alright, here we go.'”
Diaz has several new projects lined up. She will star in the Netflix action-comedy ‘Back in Action.’ It’s set to release on January 17, 2025. The movie will feature Diaz and Jamie Foxx as former CIA spies whose secret identities are exposed. Other stars in the film are Kyle Chandler, Andrew Scott, Jamie Demetriou, and Glenn Close.
Diaz is also returning to voice Princess Fiona in ‘Shrek 5.’ She’s joining Mike Myers and Eddie Murphy once again. The movie is set to hit theaters on July 1, 2026. She will also star alongside Keanu Reeves in the black comedy ‘Outcome.’
