After dominating Hollywood for years, Cameron Diaz shocked fans by stepping away from the spotlight in 2014.
Now, a decade later, she’s ready to return, with several exciting projects lined up.
At Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Summit, Diaz shared her reasons for taking a break from acting.
“It was something I just had to do. 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.”
In the past decade, the actress has built a fulfilling life outside of Hollywood. She married Good Charlotte rocker Benji Madden, welcomed two adorable children, Raddix and Cardinal, and launched her clean wine brand, Avaline, with partner Katherine Power.
Now, she is poised to return to the big screen in Netflix’s Back in Action alongside Jamie Foxx, premiering in January 2025. She’s also rumoured to be joining the cast of Shrek 5 and is in talks to star alongside Keanu Reeves in the dark comedy Outcome.
Diaz credits her family for encouraging her to return to acting. “It was just the right time for my family. After Covid, we were in the house for a long time, which was amazing and the problem was we would probably stay there, we would still be there right now.”
Her husband, Benji Madden, played a significant role in her decision. “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.’ He’s like, ‘Let me see you do it girl.’ I was like, ‘Alright, here we go.'”
Diaz also couldn’t resist the opportunity to work with Jamie Foxx again. “I 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.”
