'They Own You': Why Cameron Diaz Walked Away From Hollywood

Few actors have reached the A-list, the upper echelon of movie stardom and actually chosen to walk away.

But after two decades on the big screen, that’s exactly what Cameron Diaz did back in 2014. Why??

Video: Cameron Diaz Guzzles Wine In Her TikTok Debut

In a new convo with Gwyneth Paltrow as part of In Goop Health: The Sessions, the Charlie’s Angels star gave her most in depth answer to that question yet, and honestly — it’s not too hard to understand. She explained the industry was deceptively taxing on her, saying:

“I just decided that I wanted different things out of my life. I had gone so hard for so long, working, making films and it’s such a grind. When you’re making a movie — it’s a perfect excuse — they own you. You’re there for 12 hours a day for months on end and you have no time for anything else.”

She explained:

“It’s so intense to work at that level and be that public and put yourself out there. 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 told Gwyneth that while she was a movie star she simply didn’t have “any space for [a] personal life.”

That makes a lot of sense if you look at Cameron’s personal timeline. In 2014 she starred in Sex Tape, the Annie remake, and The Other Woman. That sounds like a busy time. And when she gave it all up? That same year she started dating Good Charlotte guitarist Benji Madden, and they married in 2015.

Gwyneth asked what it was like to leave the movie star life behind, and Cameron replied:

“Like peace. A peace in my soul because I was finally taking care of myself.”

She says Benji helped her on her “painful” journey to finding her true self and becoming “self-sufficient” for the first time since joining an industry where being high up on the call sheet means getting a lot of your whims catered to.

Cameron told her fellow Golden Globe nominee how her husband showed her what she’d become in that environment:

“I broke that mirror about a thousand times when he put it up to me. I was like, ‘I hate you… don’t show me that,’ and he was like, ‘Look, bitch. Look.’ Thank God for him.”

These days, Cameron is happier than ever, raising her 7-month-old daughter Raddix Madden.

For more about how Cameron found her peace of mind, see the whole convo (below):

[Image via WENN/NBC/20th Century Fox/YouTube.]