Cameron Diaz explains why she stopped acting

It’s been six years since  Cameron Diaz  last appeared on the big screen starring in Annie. During the latest episode of Gwyneth Paltrow’s In Goop Health: The Sessions, the 47-year-old star opened up about her decision to retire from acting. “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 and I didn’t really make any space for my personal life,” Cameron shared. “And then I decided to stop making movies and really focus on my personal life, my personal relationships with my family, my friends and then Benj [ Benji Madden ] and I met each other.”

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The mom of one admitted that she felt at “peace” walking away from her movie career. “A peace in my soul because I finally was taking care of myself,” she said. “It’s a strange thing to say. I know a lot of people won’t understand it,” Cameron added. “But 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. I’m sensitive to some energies and not others, but I do get the overwhelming energy of the attention that’s being put towards me.”

The Avaline cofounder noted that when you’re making a film “you have no time for anything else.” “I stopped and really looked at my life,” she confessed. “I realized I handed off parts of my life to all these other people and they took it. I had to basically take it back and take responsibility for my own life. That’s my job.”

Cameron married her husband Benji in 2015. “We got married pretty much immediately because we both knew that we had to do it,” she told Gwyneth. Earlier this year, Cameron and Benji announced the arrival of their first child, daughter Raddix. “She has instantly captured our hearts and completed our family,” the new parents said in January. “While we are overjoyed to share this news, we also feel a strong instinct to protect our little one’s privacy. So we won’t be posting pictures or sharing any more details, other than the fact that she is really really cute! Some would even say RAD.” Last month, the There’s Something About Mary actress called her daughter the “best thing that ever happened” to her and Benji.