Cameron Diaz pulled the curtain back on her decision to withdraw from show business once she entered her 40s.
The 47-year-old, whose last film was the 2014 remake of Annie, discussed her life choices while chatting to Gwyenth Paltrow.
The Pretext
During the interview Cameron revealed she left the movies to ‘focus on my personal life’ and ‘become self-sufficient again’ as ‘actors are infantilized’ in Hollywood.
‘We went hard for a few years where we just like ironed it out and hacked it out, and it was a lot of work but it was really you know, we had to,’ she said of the marriage.
The Situation
‘I’m older than him, but not so much older, but he was at the place in his life too where he wanted to do that as well,’ added Cameron.
She feels ‘grounded and light’ after her departure from the movies, telling Gwyneth: ”It’s a strange thing to say. I know a lot of people won’t understand it – I know you understand it – but it’s such a, and it’s so intense to work at that level and be that public and put yourself out there.’
Cameron, who voiced Princess Fiona in the Shrek franchise, continued: ‘There’s a lot of energy coming at you at all times, when you’re really, you know, visible as an actor and doing, you know, press and putting yourself out there.’
The End
She went on: ‘And you really energetically – I’m sensitive to energy, some energies and not others – but it does, I do get the overwhelming energy of the attention that’s being, you know, put towards me.’
Said she: ‘I really looked at my life, and I saw what I had been. ‘Cause when you’re making a movie, it’s the perfect excuse. They own you. You’re there 12 hours a day for months on end. You have no time for anything else.’
Cameron ultimately ‘realized I handed off parts of my life to all these other people, and they were – they took it, you know. And some people did – I had to basically take it back, you know, and take responsibility for my own life.’
Cameron confessed: ‘Actors are infantilized, you know? We’re put in a position where everything’s taken care of for us.’
She elaborated: ‘You know, you go to set, everybody wants to carry your bag and put you in – you know, you’re not allowed to do anything.God forbid something happens to you, then they can’t finish making the movie and you’re already on film, and you know, insurance days and like all of these things.’
