There's a reason why you haven't seen Cameron Diaz in movies recently. It's because the star chose to walk away from Hollywood to focus more on herself. And since her last movie in 2014, she's had a lot happen.
In 2015, she got married to musician Benji Madden. Then for years they tried to start a family. At the very end of 2019, that dream came true when they welcomed a little girl, Raddix Madden, via surrogate. The name is a bit unusual, but it's supposedly very on brand for the couple. "It's so like Cam and Benji to pick a quirky yet meaningful name," a source told Us Weekly.
Even though Cameron has been living somewhat of a private life, she's still up for a good interview. Especially if it happens to be with a dear friend. Gwyneth Paltrow welcomed her on her podcast, In Goop Health: The Single Sessions, to talk about everything that's been going on. Namely, how does it feel to leave a career after working so hard at it?
Cameron's answer was very simple. "Like peace. A peace in my soul because I was finally taking care of myself," she said.
Cameron's last movie was the remake of Annie, where she played Hannigan. That year, she also starred in Sex Tape and The Other Woman. Her career began in 1994, playing the role of Tina Carlyle in the Jim Carrey film The Mask. In the '90s, she was a highly sought-after actress.
But she was willing to leave it all behind. "It's a strange thing to say, I know a lot of people won't understand it, I know you understand it, but it was so intense to work at that level and be that public and put yourself out there," Cameron told Gwyneth. "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."
She also said that being on set can be very tricky, especially if you're also trying to maintain a social life. "I stopped and really looked at my life," she said. "When you're making a movie … they own you. You're there for 12 hours a day for months on end [and] you have no time for anything else."
"I realized I handed off parts of my life to all these other people," she continued. "I had to basically take it back and take responsibility for my own life." It's possible that Cameron felt like having a family would be really difficult with the schedule she had.
"I had been going so hard for so long, working, making films, such a grind," she continued. "I didn't make any space for my personal life." Most years, Cameron took on multiple movie roles. She also started voice acting — for every Shrek sequel, Cameron was there taking on the role of Princess Fiona.
That's one of the reasons why she got married to Benji soon after leaving her career. "We got married pretty much immediately because we realized we just had to do it," she said. "We went hard for a few years where we just ironed [our relationship] out, hacked it out. It was a lot of work, but we had to."
"I'm older than him, not a lot older, but he was at the place in his life where he also wanted to do that as well," she said. Cameron's road toward motherhood wasn't easy — but it would have been impossible if she was also balancing such a full schedule. According to Women's Health magazine, Cameron tried several methods before using a surrogate.
Sources say that Cameron previously tried IVF, supplements, and even acupuncture to try to get pregnant. Unfortunately, those didn't work. "They went through so much to get to this point," the source said to Us Weekly. "Cameron feels like this baby is truly a miracle."
By not working so hard, Cameron now has a lot more time to spend at home with her daughter. "Cameron wants to spend every second with the baby," an insider told People magazine. "Their close friends are extremely loyal, so it's not strange that they were able to keep it quiet."
Cameron and Benji got engaged just months after dating. So between their quick timeline and Cameron deciding to retire, fans were very puzzled by her choices at the time. Especially since back in 2014, in an interview with Marie Claire, she seemed confident about not needing to settle down and start a family.
"If a family happens, then it happens," she said. "If children come to me, then I would do that, but I'm not someone who feels like she has to do something because it's expected." She also stated, "I'm not looking for a husband or marriage or not not looking for that stuff. I'm living, not thinking what I should or shouldn't be doing with my life."
Just because Cameron hasn't been in films doesn't mean she's not working. She's just exploring other avenues. One being wine. She just launched her new line, Avaline, with her friend Katherine Power. So far, the line includes a white wine and a rosé.
She used the opportunity to sign up for TikTok and make a video. As expected, the video is one of her drinking some Avaline, which is vegan-friendly. "Made my first TikTok ya'll!! @drinkavaline #winechallenge #avalinewinechallenge #fyp #katherineneedsatiktokaccount!" she wrote in the caption.
So this isn't the last you've seen of Cameron. And who knows? Just because you semi-retire and take a break from film doesn't mean that that decision has to be permanent. Cameron owes it to herself to take all the time she needs to focus on what matters most to her — her family.
