Cameron Diaz explains emotional real reason behind decision to retire from acting for 11 years

Cameron Diaz has been a bona fide Hollywood darling since making her feature-film debut beside Jim Carrey in 1994’s The Mask.

Following her role as Tina Carlyle in the blockbuster, the 52-year-old went on to appear in classics like My Best Friend’s Wedding, voiced Princess Fiona in the Shrek franchise and played Natalie Cook in 2000s Charlie’s Angels and its sequel, Full Throttle.

Now if you cast your mind back to 2014, Diaz was having a blinder of a year.

She was Carly Whitten in The Other Woman, Annie Hargrove in Jake Kasdan’s Sex Tape and Miss Hannigan in the Annie reboot.

But after stepping out as the matron of the iconic Hudson St Orphanage, Diaz mysteriously went silent.

A decade later, the Californian has lifted the lid on why she decided to suddenly quit Hollywood and exit the spotlight.

The confession comes as Diaz gears up to make her return to the silver screen with the aptly titled action comedy flick, Back in Action.

The mother-of-two will play former CIA spy Emily opposite Jamie Foxx’s Matt as she and her partner are forced to return to work after their secret identities are exposed.

Back in Action, directed by Seth Gordon, is set to debut on Netflix on 17 January 17 and comes ahead of Shrek 5’s cinematic release in July 2026.

The direct sequel to 2010’s Shrek Forever After will see Diaz reprising her voice role as Princess Fiona alongside Mike Myers as the titular Dreamworks character and Eddie Murphy as their noble steed, Donkey.

Cameron Diaz hasn't appeared in a film since 2014 (Steve Jennings/Getty Images)

Making it a hat-trick, Diaz is also currently filming the Apple TV+ movie Outcome.

The Jonah Hill-directed project is billed as a black comedy and will star The Holiday alumna in an unnamed role.

The star-studded also cast includes Keanu Reeves, Laverne Cox and Bottoms’ Kaia Gerber.

So with her triumphant industry return on the horizon, why did Diaz move away from the limelight in the first place?

Appearing at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Summit in California earlier this week (October 14), Diaz admitted bowing out was just ‘something’ she had to do.

“It felt like the right thing for me, to reclaim my own life, and I just really didn’t care about anything else, I didn’t.

The star has three upcoming projects slated for release (Presley Ann/Getty Images)

“And 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,” she continued, as per The Hollywood Reporter.

The actress continued to claim that building a family became something she was ‘passionate about’ and that working in the industry no longer ‘fed her soul’.

Thankfully, it appears the star has re-found her spark, with all eyes now on Diaz’s imminent return.