The Second Coming of Cameron

For 10 years, Cameron Diaz put her acting career on the back burner so she could focus on family life with husband Benji Madden. Us reveals what prompted her highly anticipated return and what the future holds -

- JAIME HARKIN

Cameron Diaz had reached her breaking point. When Annie hit theaters in 2014, it marked her 38th movie in 20 years. "It's so intense to work at that level and be that public and put yourself out there," she told pal Gwyneth Paltrow during a 2020 Goop interview. "There's a lot of energy coming at you at all times." She decided to take a giant step back from Hollywood to focus on herself and build the family she'd always wanted. In 2015, she married Good Charlotte rocker Benji Madden, and the two welcomed daughter Raddix in December 2019 and son Cardinal in March. "Cameron was burnt out," a source tells Us, "and her priorities shifted."

After an eventful fulfilling and personally decade, Diaz is returning to the spotlight. Her new Netflix film, Back in Action, debuts Jan. 17. In it, she and costar Jamie Foxx play married former CIA agents who are pulled back into the world of espionage when their identities are blown. In May, the 52-year-old actress was spotted filming the upcoming Apple TV+ flick Outcome with Keanu Reeves and Matt Bomer in L.A., and she's set to star in Shrek 5, due out in July 2026. A second source says Diaz's decision to act again "evolved over time," adding, "It wasn't sudden." In October, she told the audience at Fortune's Most Powerful Women Summit that "it was just the right time for my family."

Make no mistake: Her next chapter will be on her terms. "Cameron [is] very selective about future projects," says the first source. Her priorities are her children and Madden, 45, and their low-key life in Montecito, Calif. "I'm not defining anything," Diaz recently told Empire about coming out of retirement. "I'm just open to whatever makes sense for me and my family at any given moment."

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