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.”
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: