Cameron Diaz is such a curious Hollywood case – at one point, she was the biggest name in Hollywood, the highest-paid actress and one of the few women who could get a film greenlighted on her name alone. She had her pick of scripts and projects and she was moving between art films and studio films, etc. But years ago, it was almost like she just intended to take a few years off, and the years began piling up and now we’ll probably never see her act again. Her daughter Raddix Chloe Wildflower Madden was born about 14 months ago, and Cameron says that now that she’s a mom, she has zero interest in being on a set for 14 hours a day.
Cameron Diaz isn’t in a hurry to step in front of the camera again. The actress, 48, appeared on the SiriusXM show Quarantined with Bruce to promote her new wine line, Avaline, Thursday and spoke about whether she’d return to acting.
“Will I ever make a movie again? I’m not looking to, but will I? I don’t know. I have no idea,” she said. “Maybe, never say never, but I couldn’t imagine being a mom now where I’m at as a mother with my child at her first year to have to be on a movie set that takes 14 hours, 16 hours of my day away from my child.”
Diaz welcomed her 1-year-old daughter Raddix with her husband Benji Madden in December 2019. She continued, “I just couldn’t … I wouldn’t have been the mom that I am now had I chosen to do that at any other time in my life. I feel for so many mothers who can’t, that have to go to work, you know, whatever they’re doing. I feel so much for them and for their children and for all of that, but it does really take a village.”
“I just feel so blessed that I get to be here now with my child and, you know, get to be the mother that I get to be,” she said. “It’s such a blessing, it’s completely privileged, and I’m just really, really grateful.”
Diaz said she felt fulfilled to simply focus on her business and her family. “That’s pretty much it right now. … Avaline is the only sort of day-to-day work that I’m doing other than, you know, being a wife and a mother,” she said, adding that it has been “rewarding…It really has been the most fulfilling part of my life so far.”
I think she has every right to be a stay-at-home mom if that’s what she wants, and she understands that many women don’t have that privilege. Cameron waited a while to become a mom, and she’s clearly obsessed with her happy little family. I guess it’s always a little bit strange to me that she managed to walk away so thoroughly, with so little fanfare. And she still lives in LA too – she crops up in photos with her A-list friends, it’s clear that she’s still pretty social with the Hollywood crew. But she just got burned out, I guess. And now she doesn’t see a reason to go back to work.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.
So she named her daughter Raddix and her wine company Avaline. Man.
Raddix–worst name ever. Sounds like a tuberous veggie.
When Cameron’s father past away, that is when I noticed that she was changing career/work schedule wise. His death ( a heart attack) was a surprise to her and his friends. Then the breakup with Timberdouche was in the same window. There was a lot on her plate.
She can afford it, so why not.
It’s bizarre, but I have zero memory of Cameron Diaz ever being pregnant.
She keeps her life in a concrete safe, buried six feet underground lockdown.
She might have had a surrogate? I don’t remember it either and too lazy to look it up.
Yeah, I have no idea. But it seems like she isn’t seen often anymore, so she could’ve given birth to triplets and I would have missed it.
They used a surrogate.
Have they confirmed this? They may have adopted their daughter.
Demi Moore and Julia Roberts who were also the 20 million a movie trinity also walked away for years. I think its harder to come back sometimes,not everyone gets the Meryl Streep treatment.
Demi had her production company and made money hand over fist from the Austin Powers trilogy, even more money than as an actress.
Julia is of the old school variety and honestly was smart enough to take a break about what she help contribute to expedite the divorce of her husband and his 1st wife. She just had good sense on that part and people really did forget about it.
Most people forgot about it, but the legend of A Low Vera lives on.
@ Noki, yes but not everyone is Meryl Frickin Streep!! She is an icon and a master actor!! She is one of the greats, not Demi Moore or Julia Roberts are in the same class as her.
If i had her money id probably make the same decisions. Hollywood isn’t kind to women who used to be “it” girls but who’ve inevitably aged. She has taken a stance against doing loads of work on her face, and wants to just live her life. Can’t say i blame her!
That name though…
I known!
My husband works as a gaffer on television shows and the schedule is really tough. It’s not just that it can be 14 hours a day – it’s that it’s inconsistent. Or, to be clearer, it consistently always starts at 7 a.m. on Monday and by Friday you might be starting at 3 p.m. and working until 4 or 5 a.m. on Saturday morning. And then starting Monday again at 7 a.m.
So it’s not just the hours – it’s what it does to your body to have that sort of schedule shift going on all the time.
This. For the most part the on camera talent, unless they are directing are not around for the logistics.
They are just chilling somewhere and for some, I am sure that is tedious.
It’s true they are not actually “working” as many hours as the crew, but because of hair, makeup and costume, the actors are often on set for a very long time.
She left acting years ago, so why is her story now “because I’m a MOTHER!”. Can she just change careers without making it a mom story? The whole “but now that I’m a MOTHER” storyline is super annoying.
Yup, she left Hollywood years ago, which is fine just don’t sell it as it wasn’t a choice earlier. So I guess that she left and didn’t have a reason and now it’s because she is a mom. It could have been she left after the marriage to focus on that which is perfectly fine. But from what I read she and her hubby tried for years to conceive which probably kept her put of the spotlight. From what I have read, it was very taxing on her and she was met with disappointment after disappointment. Of course anyone who goes through IVF it’s taxing on you emotionally and physically.
Since her life is her family now, I don’t see how she couldn’t mention their existence. Her family is an integral part of her identity in the present moment. Pretty much everyone else mentions their family, so why not her too. I don’t think she ever really says why she left. Or at least having a family doesn’t appear to be cited as a reason. She seems to mention her family because she genuinely enjoys the experience. She waited a long time for it and did family planning of some kind, so I could see how she might enjoy it more than, for example, a teen mom.
The latest Erdem fashion show will steal your vision away from those horrendous shoes that play out in a majority of the clothing. Majority of their recent show is lovely but some of it has zero excuses to be featured.
I like Cameron and I respect her walking away, SO MANY of them don’t and I’m like “enjoy the riches and fade away”. But I do think she walked away when she older, when the cutesy parts were likely no longer being offered – hard to play cute and quirky as one gets older. Plus her face was starting to age (which is fine) but I feel she didn’t want to handle not being the cute young romcom (she did so some serious movie but her mojo was usually comedies). Combined with having a kid later in love, I don’t feel she likely walked away from a BOOMING career anymore. In fact, she is smart – she likely is MORE demand because she did walk away. But to make it all about being a Mom – I just don’t think that is the main reason.
Michelle Pfeiffer did the same thing. After raising her children she began to act again. Whatever works for the family.
I can totally feel this sentiment. As soon as I gave birth, I have little patience, joy, or care with my job. It’s as if all of the energy I had for my job was altered to my child, and I am fine with that. The biggest hurdle is once you tap out of being a part of the negative rat race in your career, the negative feedback comes “average, mediocre,” etc. because you are now not going above and beyond. That was the hurtful part of the transition. Even now, 4 years later, I would love to be able to change job titles for something more flexible for my family.
Longtime reader but havent commented in a LONG TIME.
I saw Cameron Diaz in 2019 with the Benji Madden. They were a normal couple walking and talking. She really looked like she was at peace.
Lets not forget she went out with Matt Dillon for a long time and he was constantly cheating. Then she was with Timberlake for a long time and wanted to get married and his mother hated her bc she was too old. They break up and then he married Biehl. As another commenter mentioned, her father died during this.
She took stock of her Hollywood life and it isnt worth it/ Now she is in a stable relationship, is fulfilled with having a child and other endeavors, good for her to get out with her mental health intact.
She was never a great actress and I think she knew that once she was past the “America’s Sweetheart” stage in her career, she wouldn’t easily get cast in meaty roles.
I thought she was terrific in “The Counselor”.
Funny I didn’t interpret her statement as motherhood is the reason why Cameron left but as the reason she probably won’t go back to acting. I also think Cameron left because she wanted to not because she was aging and wouldn’t get the cute roles anymore.
Of perhaps she had a taste of how Hollywood treats women who are no longer 22 and a size 2.
I looked at IMDB and she hasn’t had a film out since 2014. I think the roles were just not there for her anymore- huge amounts of her screen persona were based on being hot in a very ‘aughts male gazey way and I don’t think she really fit that type after a while. I saw her on the street in February of 2016 and her face looked really rough even though she was (more than) fully made up. She’s kind of leaned in hard to the beauty/ wellness Instagram influencer space (like Goop and Kate Hudson and a few others). All that said – I think what she said was she wouldn’t go back to acting because the hours were terrible and she’s a mom now, I can’t quite tell if people were meant to extrapolate that was why she left or not. Gwyneth said similar things about starting Goop (new passion, done with acting). in both cases roles for them sort of dried up but do men ever get asked this? Is George Clooney really in demand as an actor? Matt McConnaghey? I think Matt Damon still works a lot but when say, Ryan Gosling wants to opt out and be mysterious about it nobody assumes he’s just getting bad scripts.
I feel like she could step into Cloris Leachman type roles if/when she is ready to go back (I know 😩 too soon).
It really is impossible for a woman to become a mom and not immediately turn into a condescending self-important hand-to-chest martyr, huh. Even when one waits until almost 50.