Why Cameron Diaz left Hollywood

She used to be a big Hollywood star, but after 2014, Cameron Diaz disappeared from the limelight. It was a mysterious situation. Whatever happened to her?

We now know what the actress was up to: Diaz started a family! At age 47, she became a mom for the first time. The baby girl Raddix was born in January 2020.

Cameron Diaz has been living a passionate love story with Benji Madden, guitarist, DJ and member of the rock band Good Charlotte. They met in 2014 and a few months later (January 2015) they got married in a secret wedding.

Cameron Diaz left Hollywood to focus on her personal life. She told Metro in March 2018: "I'm not doing anything at the moment." Live, love, go out, and do some shopping. Spending the millions from her movie successes.

Cameron Diaz was born in San Diego, California, in 1972. Her father was Cuban, but Diaz says that she also has English, German, Spanish and Cherokee blood in her veins.

Cameron Diaz had worked as a model since she was 15 years old. She even starred in an erotic movie that, from time to time, reappears on the net. (This photo is not from that film, by the way!)

It was in 1994 when Cameron Diaz became a world star thanks to her role in the comedy 'The Mask' with Jim Carrey. Just 22 years old, Cameron Diaz became one of the great stars of the 90s.

Hollywood discovered in Cameron Diaz as an actress especially gifted for comedy. An example was her role in 'My Best Friend's Wedding'.

A major box office hit was 'There's Something About Mary.' Her scene with the bangs facing upwards, held up by a mysterious substance, will go down in cinema history.

Cameron Diaz dated a few famous colleagues. First, there was Jared Leto, and then she went out with Justin Timberlake.

Neither Diaz nor Timberlake liked the part of stardom that involved giving up their private lives to the press. Her retirement from Hollywood, she later revealed, had to do with that loss of privacy for Hollywood stars.

Professionally everything went well in those years. 'Charlie's Angels' was one of Cameron Diaz's blockbusters at the turn of the century.

Shining on the red carpet to promote your movies is part of the profession, but Cameron Diaz got tired of posing. And even though she shared premiere and nightclub visits with her actor friends, Diaz claims that she doesn't feel nostalgic for that past.

Even though Cameron was a Hollywood beauty, she recalls often feeling like an ugly duckling during her childhood. It was something she never forgot.

Together with the Spanish actor Antonio Banderas, Cameron Diaz gave a voice performance in 'Shrek.' She had the role of Princess Fiona in the film series from 2001 to 2010.

In 2013, Hollywood Reporter stated that she was the highest paid Hollywood actress over 40.

Diaz is known as one of the great blondes of Hollywood, but for some roles she would transform her hairdo completely. She was hardly recognizable as the nerdy Lotte Schwarz in the indie comedy 'Being John Malkovich' in 1999.

If a film script demanded it, Cameron Diaz did not hesitate to take risks. Here's she's wearing a cap - she did not shave her head! - for the movie 'My Sister's Keeper' in 2009.

See how the bald head was part of Demi Moore's many transformations as well. 

Cameron Diaz was nominated four times for the Golden Globes. She consistently missed out on the award, though. With 'Gangs of New York' (2002, directed by Martin Scorsese), she came the closest to an award. It was one of the best roles she ever played.

Diaz used to make all kinds of movies, including comedy, action, and romance. A good example of the cinema in which Cameron Diaz triumphed is 'Knight and Day.'

At that time she had a romantic relationship with baseball star Alex Rodriguez. In 2011 they broke up.

From 2005 onwards, Cameron Diaz's career included some horrible mistakes. 'The Green Hornet' went unnoticed, for example.

Another Cameron Diaz comedy, 'Bad Teacher', was a modest success.

2014 was the year when Cameron Diaz last participated in a film shoot. In the image we see her during one of the scenes of 'Annie', a new version of the classic family musical.

But then came 'S** Tape,' a comedy which earned Cameron Diaz a Razzie, the award for the worst performances in Hollywood. And that was the end of Cameron Diaz as a Hollywood actress. She decided to withdraw from the film industry.

The spotlights, fortunes, and applauses are now in the past. Cameron Diaz appears happy that way.

She met the love of her life after turning 40 and is happy to settle down. As a new mother at the respectable age of 49, Cameron Diaz is now in an exciting new phase in her life.