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Ever since she burst onto the scene with her turn as the singer, Tina Carlyle, in The Mask way back in 1994, Cameron Diaz has been gracing the silver screen in romantic comedies and mega-hits like Charlie’s Angels and the Shrek series. Audiences around the world came to love Cameron’s startling good looks and wild onscreen persona. But Cameron hasn’t appeared in a movie since 2014, and it doesn’t sound like she has any imminent plans to return to a movie theater near you. Cameron has not-so-subtly hinted that she’s retiring from the business to settle down with her new husband, Benji Madden, and their unborn child. Yep, that’s right– our favorite single girl in Hollywood has finally tied the knot and settled down to raise a family.
Throughout her career, Cameron has been one of the most bankable stars in Hollywood, so it’s quite a shock to see her stepping away from the industry at just 45 years of age. But the truth is, Cameron’s career isn’t quite what it used to be, and she’s getting a little old to play the kind of character that she’s made her trademark.
Even so, most people would love to have a career like Cameron Diaz! Why is Cameron walking away from millions of dollars? Here are Cameron’s reasons for retiring from acting.
Taking Care of a Baby Is a Lot of Work
For most of her career, Cameron maintained that she had no interest in parenting and that she was too interested in living life for herself to get tied down with a baby. Many women reach a certain point in their life, though, when the maternal drive kicks in. It appears that settling down with her new husband, Benji Madden, changed Cameron’s mind— and just in the nick of time, too! It becomes harder for a woman to conceive after 40, and Cameron reportedly had to go through extensive fertility treatments to get pregnant at 45. And that’s just to get everything started!
Once the baby comes, she’s going to have diapers and daycare to deal with— and not a whole lot of time left over to deal with fictional breakups and romances on the big screen. We’ve got to give it to Cameron— a lot of movie stars would just take a few months off to the deliver the baby, then call the nanny and get right back to work. But unlike many stars, who are still caught up in the glamorous life, Cameron seems committed to being a good mom once the baby comes along. Cameron has always claimed that she’s more real than most movie stars, and this proves that she’s doing it right!
The "Annie" Remake Was Not Good
Remember Annie? It was the heartwarming classic Broadway musical about a young orphan named Annie who had to deal with dire circumstances in 1920's New York City. Annie hates her life and tries to run away to find her real parents, but along the way, she gets adopted by a friendly rich man named Mr. Warbucks. It’s a hopeful little story about a girl finding her way out of the gutter, most memorable for the legendary song, “Tomorrow,” and the musical was adapted into a popular movie in 1982.
But for some reason, Hollywood bigwigs decided that an ‘80s movie wasn’t modern enough, and they ordered a remake set in the present day. Cameron plays the cranky, Miss Hannigan, a spinster who runs the foster facility and whose sole reason for existence in life seems to be to keep Annie miserable. Miss Hannigan is lonely and prone to the bottle, and an altogether, unsympathetic character. The movie was panned by critics, and Cameron’s role came under particular scrutiny, as she was nominated for a Razzie for Worst Supporting Actress.
Annie was Cameron’s last film before decided to retire from acting, and after a dud like that, can you really blame her? Maybe she realized that her career had nowhere to go but down.
She Got Married
Cameron says she’s had a lot of boyfriends before, but having a husband is different. Until marrying Good Charlotte guitarist, Benji Madden, in 2015, Cameron had shown little interest in settling down, but it appears once the pair started seeing each other seriously, Cameron started to look at her life a little differently. It was no accident that she never married in her 20's and 30's, as she was focused on traveling the world and making millions with box office hit after box office hit. But when she met Madden, she says he changed her life.
She told radio host, Andy Cohen, that she knew Benji was the man for her right away. “The first thing I said…was, ‘he’s hot,’” she said in the radio interview. “Everyone tells you, “you just know when you know [that someone’s right for you.]…Oh, I get it…Like you’re my husband.”
It seems clear that Cameron has entered a different phase of her life as a homemaker and a housewife nowadays and leaving the bright lights and big cities behind is a way for her to move on. Lots of people change their priorities after they get married, and sometimes, that means changing careers or giving up a job to stay at home with the kids. It seems like Cameron is happy with her new life as a stay-at-home married woman.
She Wanted to Get to "Know Herself"
Hollywood is a chaotic place, so it’s no surprise that someone who’s been caught up in the industry for more than half of her life would feel like she had lost her identity. The thing with being a movie star is that everyone is constantly lavishing you with love and accouterments, and often, it doesn’t matter if you’ve done anything to deserve it or not— you’re a famous face, and everyone wants to appease you. It seems like between dealing with directors, the paparazzi and legions of fans, Cameron spent so much time putting on a brave face that she never found the time to take a moment to herself.
It’s easy to get caught up in the lifestyle and someone who is so used to being treated like royalty might not feel the need to assert their own individuality around everyone else. It’s no surprise that after Cameron spent her whole life faking it in front the camera, she looked in the mirror one day and felt like she didn’t know who the real person looking back was. In a recent interview, she said that she was taking the time away to “get to know herself better.” It seems like a lot of us could use that time, doesn’t it?
She Can't Party Anymore With a Baby
Let’s be honest— Cameron was known as a bit of a wild child in the '90s. It’s probably one reason she didn’t settle down until just recently. But whether it’s lavish Hollywood parties, just having a good time out with friends, or living the fake lives some of the questionable characters she’d brought to life onscreen, the crazy lifestyle that a young single celebrity might choose to lead is no world to bring a baby into. Cameron has more than just herself to think about now, and it makes sense that a new mom would try to make mature decisions. Cameron has obviously aged out of her younger scene a bit, but with her baby on the way she probably wants to make extra sure that she isn’t drawn in by the temptations of the Hollywood lifestyle.
In a way, Cameron’s like all of us when it comes to growing up— it’s not just celebrities who have to deal with this transition. How many people have made questionable decisions in college they’d be embarrassed to admit to in their thirties and forties? Cameron’s no Hollywood It Girl anymore. Stepping away from the party crowd is a mature decision on the part of an actress who isn’t exactly known for her good decisions onscreen.
She Can Afford It
We mentioned that Cameron was one of the most bankable stars in Hollywood, and that was no exaggeration. Cameron’s films have netted a combined $3 billion in the US and more than double that worldwide. That places her third in the world for box office dollars among all Hollywood actresses, behind only Scarlett Johansson and Emma Watson. That’s some pretty elite company— and let’s be fair, it’s not like Cameron had the Harry Potter franchise behind her pushing her into that stratosphere.
With a net worth of around $100 million, according to The Richest, Cameron has enough dough in the bank to not make another dollar in her lifetime and still leave her great-grandchildren a healthy chunk of change. One of the main reasons most people keep working in their forties and fifties is to save up a nest egg for retirement, but someone in Cameron’s shoes has no such concerns— she can spend the rest of her life relaxing on a beach in Malibu if she wants. And really, Cameron’s at a point in her life where she can pretty much choose to do whatever she wants . There’s no reason to get entangled in the hustle and bustle of movie-making if she doesn’t need to worry about a paycheck.
She's Talented But Not Exactly Meryl Streep
Cameron might have made major bank as an actress, but let’s face it— it wasn’t really on the back of her acting skills. She had a pretty face and caught some great roles, and in her 20's, she found a nice niche in movies that were highly successful. She did have a few dramatic turns in flicks like Any Given Sunday, where she plays the young female owner of an NFL team, but for the most part, Cameron tends to play ditzy love interests and women with loose morals— not exactly Juilliard-level stuff.
While some actresses can stick around for many years after their looks wear out and make a second career for themselves as serious character actresses, most of Cameron’s box office comes from the fact that she always manages to seem devilishly attractive. Once her looks wear out, she doesn’t necessarily have the acting chops to age into more graceful, serious roles. We’re sure that if Cameron committed herself to her craft and tried to take on some dramatic roles, she’d manage to make out okay, but that’s not really her bag. Cameron probably doesn’t want to change up her style, and considering she’s not hurting for money, she feels that it’s better to just walk away rather than putting in all that extra time and effect.
She's At The Wrong Age For Hollywood
It’s well known that Hollywood is a tough racket for middle-aged women. Studios want gorgeous young starlets they can plaster on movie posters to get people into the seats, and once actresses get past a certain age, there just aren’t that many roles left for them in the industry. Cameron has done a decent job of making popular movies throughout her thirties by taking on slightly more mature roles, but 40 is an awkward age for Hollywood. With a few exceptions, actresses over 40 need to slowly transition into roles as the mother of the main character— and mothers of main characters don’t usually put bodies in movie theaters.
Cameron thinks of herself as a movie star, and if people aren’t offering her movie star roles anymore, maybe she just doesn’t want to play the game. Most older working actresses are doing it either for the paycheck or for the love of the job, and let’s be real: neither of those applies to Cameron. She's made her mark being what she is, and she doesn’t need to change for anyone. Besides, Cameron’s still a little too young to pretend to be the mother of a twenty-something. She’s just in that awkward gap where great movie roles are hard to come by.
Her Career Has Been in Decline For a While
Cameron’s movies over the past decade have still earned some good money, but her output since 2010 pales in comparison to her earlier work. When was the last Cameron Diaz movie you remembered after you saw it? Critics have panned almost every movie she’s appeared in since What Happened In Vegas way back in 2008, and while Cameron’s choice of movie roles never made her a critical darling, at some point she must have realized how forgettable most of her recent movies have been. It’s no accident that she’s never won an Oscar— she just doesn’t do those types of movies.
It seems like every movie Cameron makes turns out to be profitable, but that doesn’t mean that she’s necessarily doing good work. It’s one thing to keep acting if you feel like you’re taking part in something special and making great films; it’s another to keep showing up to reel off another bland rom-com that will be lost to the annals of history the second that its theatrical run ends. People might pay to watch her movies, but those who went to see The Green Hornet and Bad Teacher probably wish they hadn’t. Cameron doesn’t need the money, so why bother to keep showing up just to punch the clock?
She Wants to Take Time for Her Writing
Cameron has published two books in the last five years. The Body Book is all about maintaining a healthy body and briefly became a bestseller, while The Longevity Book discusses the aging process and how to keep a middle-aged body looking young. The thing about being as rich and famous as Cameron is that you can pretty much do whatever you want. Why would Cameron want to be trapped in front of a camera when she could be doing something much nearer and dearer to her heart?
It only makes sense that with this newfound second career, Cameron will take use some of her time while she’s free from acting to work on more writing. Cameron is very focused on physical health and wellness, and writing these books is clearly a passion project in the way that many of her movies no longer are. With a new baby on the way, she’ll undoubtedly want to pen a parenting book in the near future, and who knows where it goes from there? Maybe she’ll start writing fiction or return to Hollywood as a screenwriter and director. The world is truly her oyster, so Cameron will continue to work on her side projects while she’s away from the grind of the industry.
She Was Exhausted From The Industry
Cameron is 45 now, but she first started working as a model at the age of just 16. She then spent five years traveling the world trying to build a career for herself before catching her big break in Hollywood with The Mask in 1994. That means that Cameron has been grinding it out for almost thirty years without any real extended break. That sounds exhausting!
While we’re sure she was caught up in the thrill of celebrity and the lifestyle in her teens and twenties, being caught in that grind for almost three decades must take a toll on a person’s mind and body. Cameron has stated in interviews that she’s simply sick and tired of putting up with all the nonsense that goes on around the movie industry, and she is looking forward to just being able to relax and stay in one place for an extended period for the first time in her adult life. And with a baby on the way, it makes total sense that she’d need that relaxation time. Everyone needs a vacation every once in a while – maybe even a permanent one.
She Wants to Support Hubby Benji Madden's Music Career
There’s more to being married than just staying home from the red carpet. There is a whole other person who also has a career to think about! Cameron’s husband, Benji Madden, is the guitarist for the pop-punk band, Good Charlotte, and they’re currently working on a new album, to be titled Generation Rx and released in September. In addition to his duties with Good Charlotte, Benji collaborates with his brother and Good Charlotte bandmate, Joel Madden, on the side project The Madden Brothers, and the two even started their own record label together called MDDN.
With all that on his plate, it’s clear that right now, Benji’s music career is taking precedence over Cameron’s acting career in the Diaz-Madden household. Of course, Cameron is probably fine with that, considering she’s already made more than six times as much money as Benji has! Long-distance relationships are tough, and between Cameron’s Hollywood obligations and Benji’s music work, it would have been a tough line to toe if Cameron was still working full-time as an actress. She probably figures that it’s better for them to stay at home and spend time together. She’s happy to let Benji go out and try to reach his musical goals, while she stays home and raises the children.
To Literally Do Nothing
Cameron said in a recent interview about her retirement that she’s “literally doing nothing” right now. While it sounds like she’s got a lot on her plate in general, what with being pregnant and writing books, maybe Cameron is trying to tell us something here. Maybe she would like a relaxing existence away from all the drama and action— just chilling on the veranda of her mansion and watching the sunrise every morning. No stresses, no worries. Sounds idyllic, doesn’t it? And if that’s what Cameron wants to do, who can blame her?
She can afford to pay for the best nannies in the world to raise her children; the best cooks to prepare her food. If she wants to, Cameron can just lie around and, literally, do nothing. We sure would like to spend a long weekend lying around Cameron’s luxurious $2 million L.A. mansion, relaxing while sipping on a high-class adult beverage or two. Cameron has talked about how much she enjoys meditation in the past, and perhaps, her total lack of obligations will give her a chance to spend all her time meditating. Hey, it beats working, right?
Getting Pregnant At 45 Was Hard Enough
A woman’s body only has so many procreative years. She starts being ready to have a baby when she’s a teenager, but by her thirties, her odds of naturally being able to make children are dwindling. Cameron elected not to get married or have children during her peak years, so now that she’s in her mid-40s and trying to have a baby, the process isn't as simple as it once was. While Cameron is now reportedly pregnant, she had to undergo several fertility treatments to make it happen and there was some talk that she wouldn’t be able to conceive at all— that maybe she and Benji would need to adopt a child instead.
With all that said, it’s no wonder that Cameron wants to take it easy with her pregnancy and not add any acting stress on top of the stress of preparing to make a whole new human inside of her! After all, this may be Cameron’s last chance at being a mom, and she needs to make sure that baby comes out as healthy as she can possibly make it. Besides, who wants to deal with a cranky expecting mother on the set of a big-budget movie? Taking a step away from the business is probably a smart decision for all parties involved.
Everything Will Change After She Has A Baby
Lots of celebrities disappear to have babies and come back a few months later looking fitter than ever. It’s part of an actor or actress’s job to look the part, and looking the part includes rigorously working out until you reach the figure that casting directors and agents expect from you. The thing is, most of those beautiful women who bounce back quickly from a baby bump are in their late 20's or early 30's – things are a little different once you hit your mid-40's.
While Cameron Diaz has shown she’s a health nut, even publishing two books instructing regular people how to take care of their bodies, she’s also discussed, in the past, how difficult it is to maintain her fabulous looks at her age. It’s going to be tough for Cameron to get back to looking as she was in this photo above ever again. While Cameron won’t necessarily turn into a couch potato, it’s fair to wonder if having a baby might change her body for good. And if she does indeed pack on a few pounds, she’d need to think pretty hard about what kind of roles she wanted to start auditioning for. Probably better that she just decided to stay away altogether.
She's Interested in Joining a Community
No, we don’t mean “community” as in community college, as in, you know, the show, Community. We mean a real community. In interviews in the past, Cameron has commented on how important it is for her to find a way to start living a more interconnected, interpersonal life than the one she led before she was 40. Specifically, she wants to feel like a part of a community. This is a common refrain from women her age, who realize they’re no longer interested in running around from city to city trying to earn a few bucks and are more interested in settling in, getting to know their neighbors, and living their fullest lives.
It’s certainly understandable how Cameron could feel like the Hollywood she’s been a part of for her whole adult life doesn’t foster the sense of community she’s talking about: Hollywood is all about people hustling to make their next paycheck, get their movie made, or win a prestigious part. Cameron needed to step away from the chaos and find more grounded, down-to-earth people. She claims to be that rare star who understands where she came from— who isn’t totally caught up in the glamor of the paparazzi life— and by stepping away from acting she’s giving herself an opportunity to prove it.
She Enjoys Being a Housewife
There’s a simple explanation for why Cameron walked away from a lucrative career to become a homemaker: she likes it. Cameron reportedly enjoys playing the role of housewife, taking care of things at home in the mansion she shares with Benji. We’re sure that Cameron has just about everything she could possibly ask for in her not-so-humble abode— she could probably go for days without even leaving the house if she wanted to. The thing is, Cameron has spent her whole career playing sirens— girls who liked to have fun and get up to no good— and maybe now, she’s trying on a new role as an adult.
Maybe all Cameron wants out of life is the chance to bake a few cakes and welcome her husband home from a long day at the recording studio. After all, there is something fulfilling about taking charge of your own home and being your own homemaker. Cameron’s probably had maids take care of that for most of her life, but eventually, everyone needs to return to their roots, and it seems like maybe Cameron has changed her tune over the past few years. Hopefully, she invites us over for the bake sale!
Hollywood Is Not Kind To Older Actresses
Let’s be honest, Cameron just doesn’t look quite as good as she used to. While Cameron certainly doesn’t look bad for a woman of 45, the ravages of time spare nobody, and the starlet with the high cheekbones and bright-yellow hair we remember from movies like There’s Something About Mary and Charlie’s Angels isn’t coming back anytime soon. Cameron made her name by playing the lead in romantic comedies, and the fact is there aren’t too many roles out there for women who are 40+.
While Cameron has shown over the past decade that she can still be a bankable star, there will always be hotter girls coming through the grapevine. Cameron has also said that at her age, even though she still looks gorgeous, it takes a lot more effort to maintain those movie-star good looks. Looking at her, she’s managed to keep up her appearances for the most part, but from some angles, she looks positively ordinary. Cameron has managed to avoid some of the side effects of having too much work done, but eventually, the wrinkles will begin to show, and from there all she can hope for in Hollywood is Mom roles.
She Doesn't Want To Be Objectified Anymore
Cameron has spent her whole life in the spotlight as the pretty girl— an object of desire. That’s the character she plays in most of her movies, and it sounds like that’s how people treated her in her personal life for most of her career as well. It seems like maybe she internalized the way people looked at her, and now, she has to find a way to work through that. In interviews, she has discussed the way that previous boyfriends have looked down on her on some level.
Part of the reason she chose to marry her new husband, Benji Madden, was because he reportedly showed her how she could be treated as an equal and not as a trophy girl like so many movie producers and previous boyfriends. Sounds like Cameron needed a wake-up call! That sounds like a pretty good relationship— it’s no wonder she up and married the guy! It also makes sense that after going through that self-actualization, Cameron would be reluctant to return to the bright lights and deal with those same directors and producers who are always trying to put her in her place as a pretty face. Maybe Cameron just needs the time away to work on her self-respect.
Then, if she can come back on her own terms…
...Maybe She's Not Really Retired?
Cameron had made a lot of comments alluding to the fact that she considers herself retired from acting, but none of them have said it explicitly. She’s never said that she’ll never, ever be back. In fact, when Selma Blair accidentally announced Diaz’s retirement in an interview, she then immediately walked it back on Twitter, making it sound like Cameron was not retired at all, but was simply taking a break from acting. While Cameron hasn’t tipped her hand, either way, it makes sense that she might be taking some time around the middle of her life to think about things before she decides on her next move.
Maybe some great movie role will come her way in five years, and she’ll decide to jump at it. Maybe after a few years of doing nothing or devoting herself fully to motherhood, she’ll decide she misses the hustle and bustle of working. Or maybe she’ll take the time to write a movie about her life, and then make her triumphant return to star in it! Cameron may say she’s out of the biz, but it’s all just talk for now. After all, she has her whole life ahead of her! Who knows what she could do?
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