Cameron Diaz has said her decade-long retirement from acting was “the best 10 years of my life”.
The actress, 52, has partnered with Jamie Foxx for the Netflix blockbuster Back In Action, marking her first role since playing Miss Hannigan in the 2014 remake of Annie.
Speaking on the BBC’s Graham Norton Show alongside Foxx, Diaz said of her temporary retirement: “Oh my God, I loved it. It was the best 10 years of my life.”
She said she was “just free” to be a mum, a wife and to live her life somewhat privately.
“It was so lovely,” she added, saying that her eventual return to acting “made sense for my family” as they wanted to “switch it up a little bit”.
The Hollywood star, whose acting debut came in 1994 hit comedy The Mask, said she had turned down roles for years during her retirement until people “stopped asking” – but added she didn’t want to turn down the role alongside Foxx.
Diaz and Jamie Foxx pose at photo call for Back In Action. Pic: Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP
“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,” she said of Foxx, 57, who she also co-starred alongside in Annie.
The Holiday star added: “It’s just a privilege to do this. I thought to myself, if I just like, let this go away, all of this goodwill that I got to build over so much time, the passion that I have for entertaining people and making movies that make people smile and laugh and have a good time… if I don’t engage in that again… then I would be a fool.”
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Diaz, who had her second child with husband Benji Madden in March last year, told Norton she was back for “at least” this film, later adding: “This is maybe the beginning, maybe I’ll tiptoe in, maybe I’ll just go like gung ho! I don’t know.”
She has also filmed the upcoming Apple TV+ black comedy Outcome alongside Keanu Reeves and Jonah Hill.
