For years Cameron Diaz delighted movie fans with her massive talent and big smile. With comedies like There’s Something About Mary and The Mask and rom-coms like My Best Friend’s Wedding and The Holiday, she did it all.
Then Diaz simply walked away, with her last film projects hitting screens in 2014. She opened up to her friend Gwyneth Paltrow on an episode of In Goop Health: The Sessions about how she came to that decision. Paltrow asked her what it felt like to walk away, and Diaz responded, “Like peace. A peace in my soul because I was finally taking care of myself.
“It’s a strange thing to say. I know a lot of people won’t understand it. I know you understand it, but it was so intense to work at that level and be that public and put yourself out there,” she continued. “There’s a lot of energy coming at you at all times when you’re really visible as an actor and doing press and putting yourself out there.
“I stopped and really looked at my life. When you’re making a movie…they own you. You’re there for 12 hours a day for months on end; you have no time for anything else,” she said. “I realized I handed off parts of my life to all these other people. I had to basically take it back and take responsibility for my own life. I had been going so hard for so long, working, making films, such a grind. I didn’t make any space for my personal life.“
Diaz’s personal life has definitely evolved since she stepped back from acting. She married Benji Madden in 2015, and the couple announced the arrival of their daughter, Raddix, earlier this year. “It’s just amazing. It’s the best thing that ever happened to both Benj and I. We’re just so happy,” she recently said of motherhood. On the professional front, Diaz has written books on health and wellness, and she recently launched a line of wine called Avaline—which led to this amazing TikTok video.
Needless to say, if she ever wants to get back into acting, we wouldn’t say no to a new Cameron Diaz movie.
Watch the whole interview, above.
