Cameron Diaz Explains Her Decision To Quit Hollywood and Devote Life to Family

Cameron Diaz gained prospectus as a model at age 16, when she signed with Elite Model Management, and was featured on the July 1990 issue of Seventeen magazine a year later.

However, she soon transcended into acting with a role in "The Mask." Sadly, the actress took a permanent hiatus from acting in 2018, stating that she was tired of traveling for filming.

Diaz was one of the most prominent actors in the industry, who captivated viewers in numbers of ways. Although it was difficult to see such a rare gem take a back seat, fans were grateful to have watched her grow into an incredible actress through the years.

Recently, she spoke about her decision to drop acting completely, revealing that she wanted a more manageable life. In spite of the fact that Diaz misses her time in the spotlight, the former model is happy about her decision to take a step back and focus on other aspects of her life.

Diaz, whose last movie appearance came in the reboot of a 1982 film titled "Annie," discussed her decision to leave her acting career, which she insists was not sudden, as she carefully thought about it and decided that it was the best thing for her.

While speaking on Kevin Hart's "Hart To Heart" show, she noted that her main reason for leaving Hollywood, was to be able to manage her life in ways that she had never been able to do before. She went on to say that a part of herself functioned more than other parts and she was not happy about it.

"... When you're the person that’s sort of delivering on this one thing, everything around, all parts of you that isn’t that, has to sort of be handed off to other people," she stressed. She also noted saying; "Just, the management of me as a human being… Cameron Diaz is a machine. But for my personal, spiritual self, I was realising that one part of me that functioned at a high level wasn’t enough."

In the movie industry, there have been cases where actors decide that they have had enough because they no longer enjoy what they do, but Diaz does not fall into that category.

She told Hart that acting has always been embedded in her, and she loved every part of it that she got to experience. Additionally, she noted that though the experience was fun for her, but she had a problem with it focusing on a single part of her life.

"I just looked around and there were so many parts of my life that I wasn’t touching and that I wasn’t managing, and I couldn’t really manage, because everything was so massive," she said to the host of the show.

In every profession, management is an essential tool for showing up for work every day, and when that is taken out of the equation, for some people, it becomes unbearable to deliver results. While it was heartbreaking for Diaz to step out of the limelight, leaving her fans to hang on to past memories alone, her all-round life management was important to her, and she could no longer neglect it.

Diaz started showbiz at age 16, and worked her way up to becoming one of the most popular actresses of all time, while switching back and forth between her professional and personal life.

At the ripe age of 40, the "Bad Teacher" actress decided to make a permanent change in her life, not only for her sake, but for the sake of her family. She disclosed to Hart that her family and friends were always supportive of her career, despite the toll it took on them, and in a way, she did the same for them by walking away.

She also disclosed that there were other people acquainted with her, who were not adding relevance to her life, but she was oblivious to this for a long time because she moved with blinders on. The actress however, later had the time to evaluate her options, and saw that leaving was the best decision to make.

One of the greatest feelings for stars, is finding joy in whatever they set their hearts to do, even after leaving something they loved doing for years.

Diaz was an actress for a long time, and as stated earlier, she loved every part of it, but right now, she's in a happy place, and that's all that matters. She noted to Hart that being able to manage herself completely has been a wholesome feeling for her that will not change ever.

"For me, I just really wanted to make my life manageable by me. My routine in a day is literally what I can manage to do by myself. It’s the best feeling. I feel whole," she said.

In 2019, at age 47, Diaz welcomed her first child with her husband, Benji Madden, and fans showered her with love on social media.