Cameron Diaz, the 52-year-old American actress famous for her roles in The Mask and There’s Something About Mary, has called her ten-year hiatus from acting “the best decade of my life.”
Diaz withdrew from the spotlight in 2014 to focus on her family life as a mother and wife, embracing the sense of freedom that came with her decision.
During a recent appearance on the BBC’s Graham Norton Show with Jamie Foxx, Diaz opened up about her time away from acting and reflected on her temporary retirement.
“Oh my God, I loved it. It was the best 10 years of my life,” she said.
Diaz shared that she truly enjoyed the chance to live her life privately, away from the pressures and expectations of Hollywood.
Diaz has made her return to the screen, teaming up with Jamie Foxx for the Netflix blockbuster Back In Action. This marks her first role since portraying Miss Hannigan in the 2014 Annie remake.
She disclosed that her decision to return to acting “made sense for my family” as they wanted to “switch it up a little bit”.
The Hollywood star, who debuted in acting with the 1994 hit comedy The Mask, shared that she had declined roles for years during her retirement until people eventually “stopped asking.”
However, she couldn’t pass up the chance to collaborate with Foxx once more. “If I’m going to leave my family for 10 hours a day – I want to do it with… the most talented man in entertainment,” she said of Foxx, who she also co-starred with in Annie.
Diaz, known for her roles in iconic films like Charlie’s Angels, Shrek, and The Holiday, shared her deep passion for entertaining audiences.
She said, “It’s just a privilege to do this. I thought to myself, if I just let this go away, all of this goodwill that I got to build over so much time, the passion that I have for entertaining people and making movies that make people smile and laugh and have a good time… if I don’t engage in that again… then I would be a fool.”
Having welcomed her second child with husband Benji Madden in March of the previous year, Diaz told Norton she was returning for “at least” this film, adding: “This is maybe the beginning, maybe I’ll tiptoe in, maybe I’ll just go like gung ho! I don’t know.”
Diaz has also finished filming the upcoming Apple TV+ black comedy Outcome, in which she stars alongside Keanu Reeves and Jonah Hill.
