Unexpected Reason Cameron Diaz Broke Her 11-Year Acting Break With Jamie Foxx’s ‘Back in Action’ Despite Having No Desire to Return

Cameron Diaz is most widely known for her role in Charlie’s Angels duology and several romcoms in the ’90s. She soon became one of the most bankable stars in Hollywood and achieved the status of one of the highest-paid actresses in the industry at 40.

At the peak of her career, Diaz decided to retire and went on a lengthy break until her return in Jamie Foxx’s Back in Action, a crime comedy. She recently stated that she did not really want to return and even went on to reveal the reason why she returned in the first place.

Cameron Diaz on why she ended her retirement to star in Back in Action

Cameron Diaz was 16 when she signed a modeling contract as a high schooler. Five years later, she made her acting debut with the superhero comedy film, The Mask, starring Jim Carrey in the lead role. It became one of the highest-grossing movies of the year and Diaz gained recognition for her performance.

In 1997, she starred opposite Julia Roberts in the global hit romantic comedy My Best Friend’s Wedding. The next year, she appeared as the lead character in There’s Something About Mary, which turned out to be a sleeper hit and even earned her a Golden Globe award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy.

This success was followed by other critically acclaimed performances. However, Diaz decided to retire after 2014’s Annie. 11 years later, she returned to Hollywood with Back in Action. In an interview with Netflix, he said:

I didn’t think I was gonna make another movie. I was perfectly happy, you know, just living my life, doing other things day in and day out – not movies. And then I get a phone call from Jamie Foxx. 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 gonna go back and spend months on end on set having a ball laughing with, it would be Jamie.

So, Diaz probably would have never made a comeback if it had not been for Foxx. As of now, she has not revealed if she will be doing any other projects, but it is definitely nice to see her back in action.

Cameron Diaz on why she left Hollywood

It has now become abundantly clear that Hollywood, just like any other work field, is harder on women than on men. To be an aging woman in the industry is an entirely different struggle. The Other Woman actress was no exception.

Over the years, she has addressed the reason behind her departure from the industry multiple times. She has done it once again recently in an interview with The Irish Times.

I decided to leave because I wanted to live my life differently, you know? It was just really that simple. I’d been making movies since I was 21 years old. I was 41, and I just thought it was time for me to engage with my life in a different way. I met my husband. We started our family, and that was all I wanted to do.

In the interview, she also stated that one of the reasons she decided to start acting again was that after COVID-19, she and her husband came to the conclusion that they needed to make some changes in their lives.