Sometimes Hollywood Isn’t All It’s Cracked Up to Be! See Celebrities Who Left Fame Behind

Evangeline Lilly

Evangeline Lilly announced she was stepping away from acting in June 2024.

“I am so filled with joy and contentment today as I live out my vision,” the Lost actress wrote on Instagram. “Praise God, I feel so grateful for my blessings. Stepping away from what seems like the obvious choice (wealth and fame) can feel scary at times, but stepping into your dharma replaces the fear with fulfillment. I might return to Hollywood one day, but, for now, this is where I belong. A new season has arrived, and I AM READY…and I AM HAPPY.”

Talan Torriero

The Laguna Beach alum has a “big boy” job in marketing after pursuing a career as an actor following his fame on the MTV reality series.

Talan said the number one thing he gets asked is what he does for a living since his Laguna Beach days and answered it in an August  24, 2022, TikTok video.

“When I was 16, MTV came to my high school. They were casting for a new show called Laguna Beach. The show blew up and my life completely changed. It was CRAZY,” he explained in the video. He then revealed, “Did the Hollywood thing for a couple years,” referring to his handful of TV and movie credits before saying he finally had to get a “big boy job,” as he’s now married with two kids.

“Since then, I’ve been working in performance marketing and making TikTok and IG ads for some of the biggest brands in the world,” Talan wrote over the video, noting he’s handled projects for “Smile Direct Club, Curology, HIMS, Nordictrack and more.”

“The chance that you’ve seen one of my ads is like 100 percent. So now you know,” he added.

Kristy McNichol

Kristy McNichol starred in the drama series Family on ABC from 1976 to 1980. She was just a teenager at the time when she won viewers over with her portrayal of Letitia “Buddy” Lawrence. The California native and her brother, Jimmy McNichol, were both young icons in the world of television shows and commercials. 

The two-time Emmy winner also appeared on The Love Boat and Starsky & Hutch before landing the role of Barbara Weston on the sitcom Empty Nest in 1988. She left the series midway through its run but returned to reprise her role during the finale in 1995. Her last television role came in the 1998 series Invasion America. In 2001, Kristy announced she was retiring from acting.

“A lot of people have wondered what I’ve been up to,” she said in a statement at the time. “I retired from my career after 24 years. My feeling was that it was time to play my biggest part — myself! I must say that it has been the best thing that ever happened to me. So many fans are disappointed that I’m not currently acting; however, some may not realize that the process I’m in at this time is necessary and vital for my personal happiness and well-being.”

Years later, the Little Darlings actress elaborated on her decision to leave Hollywood behind during a November 2014 interview with People. 

“I was on the big stage between ages 8 and 30,” she said. “I left show business for a variety of reasons, but a big one was my interest in learning what else there is in life.”

Daniel Day-Lewis

Being the greatest film thespian of his generation proved to be too much for the three-time Best Actor in a Leading Role Oscar winner. Daniel retired from acting after shooting his final film, 2017’s Phantom Thread. That year, his representative released a brief statement that read, “Daniel Day-Lewis will no longer be working as an actor. This is a private decision and neither he nor his representatives will make any further comment on this subject.”

Daniel won Oscars for his roles in My Left Foot, There Will Be Blood and Lincoln. But he was known for his intense and exhausting commitment to the craft, where he would stay in character on and off set for the duration of any production.

Cameron Diaz

After giving up life in the public eye, Cameron has been focusing on raising her daughter, Raddix, to be the best person she can be. “I’m living my life,” she once told InStyle. “It’s fun to just not have anybody know what I’m up to. Because my time is all mine.”

The There’s Something About Mary alum echoed her sentiments during an episode of Gwyneth’s In Goop Health: The Sessions series in August 2020. Cameron said it felt “like peace” to “walk away from a movie career of that magnitude.”

“It’s a strange thing to say, I know a lot of people won’t understand it, I know you understand it, but it was so intense to work at that level and be that public and put yourself out there,” she explained. “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.”

The doting mom noted her Hollywood career was taking up too much time in her schedule. “I stopped and really looked at my life,” she continued. “When you’re making a movie … they own you. You’re there for 12 hours a day for months on end you have no time for anything else. I had been going so hard for so long, working, making films, such a grind. I didn’t make any space for my personal life.”

Although she always considered walking away from Hollywood, Cameron said the decision couldn’t have felt more right after she fell in love with her husband, Benji Madden, in 2015. “We got married pretty much immediately because we realized we just had to do it,” she added. “We went hard for a few years where we just ironed [our relationship] out, hacked it out. It was a lot of work, but we had to.”

Cameron made her return to acting in 2024’s Back in Action with Jamie Foxx after a decade away from Hollywood.

Meg Ryan

Like Cameron, Meg has also been focusing more on her family. She’s a proud mom to her two kids, Daisy and Jack, and sometimes, you might catch her going for a walk in L.A. while wearing something fashionable. In 2023, Meg came out of her acting hiatus to star in the rom-com What Happens Later with David Duchovny.

Rick Moranis

After starring in such film classics as Spaceballs, The Flintstones, Parenthood and the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids franchise, Rick left big-screen stardom behind to focus on being a full-time dad to his two children after his wife, Ann, died of cancer in 1991 at the age of 35. He took on some voice work in the early to mid-aughts but didn’t have a single IMDb credit between 2008 and 2018.

Freddie Prinze Jr.

Freddie was such a hot hunk in such memorable late 90s and early-aughts films as She’s All That, I Know What You Did Last Summer and 2 Scooby-Doo live-action movies. But he ended up trading in film sets for life in the kitchen.

“I’ve really stepped away from the acting. I don’t really do that anymore,” he revealed in 2017.  Instead, he turned to his love of cooking, even collaborating on a cookbook with his actress wife, Sarah Michelle Gellar, called Back to the Kitchen. Freddie also focused on being a hands-on dad when it came to raising the couple’s two young children.

In recent years, he did a lot of voiceover work in the animated Star Wars franchise.

Josh Hartnett

The Pearl Harbor heartthrob revealed that being so famous made him feel “alone,” causing the handsome star to quit doing blockbuster Hollywood films. “I was on the cover of every magazine,” he explained to Details in 2014. “I couldn’t really go anywhere. I didn’t feel comfortable in my own skin. I was alone. I didn’t trust anyone.”

For many years Josh was mainly seen in small, independent projects. “I still get offered film and TV roles, luckily, but years ago, if I saw a role I wanted, there was a good chance I could grab it,” the Black Dahlia star continued, adding, “When I see a role now, I’ve got to fight for it. It’s not bad. It’s actually more rewarding. Depressing when something doesn’t go your way, but only for a minute.”

In 2023, he had a major comeback, appearing in both Black Mirror and Oppenheimer.

Frankie Muniz

The young actor was a beloved sitcom star from 2000 through 2006, starring as Malcolm on Fox’s Malcolm in the Middle. He then followed his dream of becoming a professional race car driver, competing in 53 pro races between 2005 and 2011. While Frankie didn’t take a checkered flag, he did make the podium 4 times. He still acts occasionally, mainly in guest roles.

Cary Grant

Cary Grant put his family over fame. At age 62, he quit acting to raise his daughter, Jennifer. “I could have gone on acting and playing a grandfather or a bum,” he once said. “But I discovered more important things in life.”

Cary later died from a stroke in 1986. He is survived by his daughter.

Robert Redford

Robert Redford is done with acting. The Ordinary People star revealed why he wanted to give up the spotlight during a previous interview with Entertainment Weekly. “I’ve been doing it since I was 21,” he said. “I thought, ‘Well, that’s enough.’ And why not go out with something that’s very upbeat and positive?”

Since he gave up acting, Robert has produced movies like Public Trust and The Mustang.

Doris Day

The public loved the Que Sera, Sera star. But at age 50, Doris Day decided to leave Hollywood and spend the rest of days at her Carmel, California, estate. “It wasn’t the city I knew anymore,” she previously told People. “If I had stayed, I might be playing a grandmother — who knows! But I love living in a small town. I have my pets around me, and I like to answer my fan mail.”

Doris later died on May 13 after contracting a “serious case of pneumonia,” The Doris Day Animal Foundation said in a statement.

Gene Hackman

Gene Hackman‘s last movie was 2004’s Welcome to Mooseport. In a previous interview with Reuters, he said he left Hollywood because it was too “stressful” for him. “The compromises that you have to make in films are just part of the beast, and it had gotten to a point where I just didn’t feel like I wanted to do it anymore,” he said.

Sean Connery

Sean Connery retired from Hollywood in his mid-70s. His last big movie was 2003’s The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. However, he briefly came out of retirement to voice a character in the video game From Russia with Love and to also voice the protagonist in 2012’s Sir Billi.