‘The best 10 years of my life:’ Cameron Diaz on leaving Hollywood and acting

After a decade away from the big screen, Cameron Diaz, 52, is making her Hollywood comeback in Netflix’s Back in Action, reuniting with Jamie Foxx, 57.

The film marks her first role since playing Miss Hannigan in the 2014 remake of Annie.

Speaking on BBC One’s The Graham Norton Show, Diaz opened up about her decision to retire from acting, calling her retirement “the best 10 years of my life”.

She described the time off as freeing, allowing her to focus on being a wife and mother while living life more privately.

“It’s been so great,” she shared, adding that returning to acting “made sense for my family” as they wanted to “change it up a bit.”

The Hollywood star, who made her acting debut in the 1994 comedy The Maskshe admitted she turned down a lot of roles before people finally stopped asking. However, he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to work with Foxx again.

“If I’m going to leave my family for 10 hours a day — I want to do it with … the most talented man in entertainment,” Diaz said of her longtime co-star.

While her return is exciting for fans, Diaz remains unsure if this marks a permanent return. He told Norton, “this is maybe the beginning… I don’t know.”

Reflecting on her love of acting, she explained: “If I let it go, all that goodwill I’ve built up over so long, the passion I have to entertain people and make movies that make people smile and laugh. [at] and have a good time… if I don’t take part in it again, and I don’t give it a chance and take part in it and I’m grateful for it, then I’d be a fool.”

When asked if she’s been enjoying her time away from the spotlight, Diaz enthusiastically replied, “Oh, I’ve loved it.” She reiterated that she was “free” to focus on her personal life, but was also “really grateful” to be back.

Foxx, who previously starred alongside Diaz Annie and Any Sundayshared how he convinced her to return, saying he asked “very humbly” if she would “grace us with her incredible talent.”

Diaz revealed that when she received the script for Back in Action, she and her husband, musician Benji Madden, decided, “maybe it’s time to change it up a little bit for the family because, you know, it’s Jamie.”

As for what’s next, Diaz is keeping her options open. “Maybe tiptoe in, maybe go gung-ho, I don’t know,” he teased.