Originally appeared on E! Online
Cameron Diaz needed a little extra push to make her return to Hollywood.
And the person to do it? Her husband, Benji Madden. After stepping away from her acting career in 2014, Diaz is set to return to the big screen in 2025 — and it’s all thanks to the Good Charlotte rocker.
“We were in the house for a long time, which was amazing,” the 52-year-old star said during an Oct. 15 conversation at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Summit. “So, I had to push myself. My husband, he’s just the best. He was just like, ‘You've been supporting us and building the family.’ And supporting him in his businesses. He's like, ‘It’s time for us to support you and let mommy ascend and do her do her thing.’”
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In her time away from Hollywood, Diaz and Madden — who got married in 2015 — went on to welcome two children through surrogate, a daughter, Raddix, 4, and son Cardinal, 6 months.
READ Why Cameron Diaz and Benji Madden's Love Story Really Is the Sweetest Thing BG008/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images
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And for the "Sweetest Thing" star, the decision to walk away from her career onscreen was because she wanted to take the time to grow her family.
“It felt like the right thing for me to reclaim my own life, and I just really didn't care about anything else,” she shared. “Nobody's opinion, nobody's success, no one's offer, no one's anything could change my mind about my decision of taking care of myself and building the life that I really wanted to have. I think it really comes to what are you passionate about? For me it was to build my family.”
However, Diaz will soon grace the screen once more as she’ll star alongside Jamie Foxx in the film "Back in Action." In fact, it was her now three-time collaborator — she and Foxx previously worked together on "Annie" and "Any Given Sunday" — who helped encourage her return.
“I couldn't say no to Jamie,” Diaz noted during the Forbes conversation. “He said, ‘Come with me.’ And I was like, ‘Okay, let's do it.’ It's our third film together.”
The "Charlie’s Angels" actor previously spoke about working with Foxx and why it wasn’t hard to get back into the groove alongside him.
"The last movie I made was 'Annie' with Jamie, and so the first movie back is this film with Jamie," she said during a 2022 appearance on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon." "He's so great, he's so easy, he's so professional, he's so talented, and just being able to work with him."
She added, "It will be so much fun."
