Cameron Diaz was one of the top movie stars of the noughties, but she says that she’s never been happier than during the ten years she spent out of the public eye with her family.
The actress, who made her return to acting in 2025 after a decade-long hiatus, explained that the only work she did during that time was to launch her wine label, Avaline.
“I was not keeping up with any kind of training, I did nothing public. I said no to everything, other than for my wine,” she said. “That was what I was putting most of my focus on. If I was doing anything other than just sort of being a mom and living my day-to-day. That was pretty much it. I’m just trying to stay alive, just like every other mother. I’m just trying to keep it going.”
Putting family first
Cameron has been married to Benji Madden since 2015, and the couple share two children, Raddix, six, and Cardinal, two. The Annie star previously said that taking a break from her acting career felt right, as her family was her biggest priority.
“It felt like the right thing for me to reclaim my own life, and I just really didn’t care about anything else,” she explained. “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. I think it really comes to what are you passionate about? For me, it was to build my family.”
According to Doriel Jacov, JD, LCSW, a psychotherapist, Cameron’s decision made sense when family was her biggest priority. “It’s common for couples to renegotiate priorities at various relationship milestones, and Cameron Diaz’s decision to prioritise her family reflects her desire to be more emotionally and physically available to them,” he told HELLO!.
“If she had continued working, she likely would have been traveling more and juggling competing responsibilities, increasing stress and reduced availability at home. Diaz was able to strengthen her familial relationships and create meaning and fulfillment through her decision.”
While Cameron claimed she didn’t have any concerns about leaving acting behind, the psychotherapist says that isn’t always the case for everyone who makes similar career changes.
© Getty Images“Leaving a career can also lead to feelings of grief over both what someone had and what could have been, as careers often provide a sense of identity and accomplishment. Pausing a career often means letting go of some of that, leading to feelings of loss,” he says.
“Grief, however, is complicated and often involves conflicting emotions. Following letting go of a career, someone can feel satisfied with their family life, yet also miss the independence and accomplishment that came from work.”
Cameron’s return to acting
After a ten-year break, Cameron made a return to movies with a leading role in Back in Action alongside Jamie Foxx. But she has admitted she wasn’t sure she would ever act again.
“I didn’t think I was going to make another movie,” she confessed. “I was perfectly happy, you know, just living my life doing other things. You know, like day in and day out, not movies. And then I get a phone call from Jamie Foxx. And how do you say no to Jamie Foxx when he says, ‘Hey, I’ve got this big action comedy that we can just have so much fun on.’ If there’s anyone I’m going to go back and spend months on end, on set, having a ball, laughing with, it would be Jamie.”
© Ricky Vigil MHowever, that doesn’t mean we can expect to see the mother-of-two in lots more movies anytime soon, as her family is still her number one concern. While she has just been confirmed to be developing a sequel to Troop Beverly Hills, Cameron has said she wasn’t sure what her future Hollywood career would look like.
“It’s hard to say. If I say it, then it becomes this thing. I reserve the right to say no to doing a movie ever again, and I reserve the right to say yes if I decide to,” she told Variety. “I’m not defining anything. I’m just open to whatever makes sense for me and my family at any given moment.”
According to Doriel, this approach is best for both her and her husband Benji’s long-term happiness. “From an attachment and relationship perspective, it’s important for each partner’s roles to be flexible and not be too rigid. If one partner consistently sacrifices important parts of themselves, they can feel resentment and emotional burnout,” he says.
“Both partners should be open to their roles changing throughout the relationship, allowing each person’s needs and ambitions to be revisited and reprioritised as circumstances change.”
He concludes: “Diaz describing this period as the best ten years reflects how meaningful prioritising caregiving can feel when it’s made voluntary, and fulfilment in relationships often comes from being able to move through different roles across different points in life.”
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