Cameron Diaz found "peace" when she quit acting.
The 47-year-old actress hasn’t starred in a movie since the 2014 remake of ‘Annie’ – in which she played the role of Miss Hannigan – and she’s admitted she felt like she’d reclaimed part of her life when she stepped away from Hollywood.
The ‘Charlie’s Angels’ star found the spotlight "so intense" and knew something had to give.
Cameron was asked by her pal Gwyneth Paltrow – who has also quit movies – on her ‘In Goop Health’ show how she felt when she gave up acting, to which she replied: "A peace. A peace in my soul because I was finally taking care of myself.
"It’s so intense to work at that level and be that public. There’s a lot of energy coming at you at all times when you’re really visible as an actor and doing press and putting yourself out there.
"I do get the overwhelming energy of the attention that’s being put toward me.
"I really looked at my life and I saw that … when you’re making a movie, it’s a perfect excuse, they own you.
"You’re there 12 hours a day for months on end. You have no time for anything else.
"I realised that I’d handed off parts of my life to all these other people … and I had basically to take it back."
Despite this, the ‘Holiday’ star – who welcomed her first child, daughter Raddix, with her Good Charlotte rocker husband Benji Madden, just over six months ago – has refused to rule out returning to the film business in the future.
During a conversation with make-up artist Gucci Westman for her ‘Makeup and Friends’ YouTube series earlier this year, she told Cameron: "Obviously, everybody wants you to go back to acting…"
And Cameron replied: "Look, I’m never going to say ‘never’. I’m not a person who says ‘never’ about anything, clearly."
Gucci described Cameron’s comments as "encouraging", adding that people "love" watching her on screen.
Cameron previously discussed her decision to withdraw from the movie business, and admitted she doesn’t miss it.
She shared: "I started [experiencing fame] when I was 22, so 25 years ago – that’s a long time.
"The way I look at it is that I’ve given more than half of my life to the public.
"I feel it’s OK for me to take time for myself now to reorganise and choose how I want to come [back] into the world, if I decide to. I don’t miss performing."