Cameron Diaz on Why She Quit Acting & Reason Behind Her Return

Cameron Diaz was one of the most bankable stars of her generation before she decided to quit acting in 2014. Even her three movies which came out that year — The Other Woman, Sex Tape, and Annie — were commercially successful. Now, as she is all set to return to the screen with Netflix’s Back in Action and several other projects, Diaz candidly spoke about what prompted her to leave it all behind and the reasons behind her decision to resume acting.

Cameron Diaz says she retired from acting to ‘reclaim’ her life

Diaz addressed her decade-long absence from movies and TV at the Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Summit on Monday, October 14. She said that it was something she “had to do.” The Knight and Day actress added, “It felt like the right thing for me 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.”

Diaz explained that she wanted to focus on her family. “I think it really comes to, ‘What are you passionate about?’ For me, it was to build my family,” she stated.

Diaz has been married to musician Benji Madden since 2015. They have two children together.

Cameron Diaz credits Jamie Foxx for her return

According to Diaz, part of the credit for her return goes to Jamie Foxx, her co-star in Back in Action.

She said she “couldn’t say no to Jamie. He said, ‘Come with me’ and I said, ‘OK let’s do it;’ it’s our third film together so it’s really great.” (via The Hollywood Reporter)

Previously, they have appeared together in Oliver Stone’s 1999 feature, Any Given Sunday, and Annie.

Diaz also stated that she returned because “it was just the right time” for her family, and detailed her husband’s role in her decision. “So I had to push myself; 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, he’s like, ‘It’s time for us to support you and let Mommy ascend and do her thing,’” she elaborated. “He’s like, ‘Let me see you do it girl.’ I was like, ‘Alright, here we go,’” the Bad Teacher actress added.

Besides Netflix’s action-comedy, Diaz reportedly has two other prominent projects in the pipeline. The first is Outcome, Jonah Hill’s directorial venture for Apple Studios which also has Hill and Keanu Reeves in the cast. The second is Shrek 5.