The 1990s were very good to Cameron Diaz. After enjoying her breakout moment in 1994, when she was cast with Jim Carrey in The Mask, she continued to star in blockbusters throughout the decade (like My Best Friend's Wedding and There's Something About Mary) as well as independent fare (like A Life Less Ordinary and Being John Malkovich). In the 2000s, Diaz was still a bankable star and had big hits with the Charlie's Angels franchise as well as Shrek and its sequels. She also tried her hand at more dramatic parts in The Gangs of New York and Vanilla Sky. For most of the past 10 years, however, she's been absent from movie screens. Sure, she had a hit with Bad Teacher in 2011, and someone might have watched her in The Green Hornet or The Counselor, but her last appearance in a film was 2014's Annie remake. Not a great note to go out on — but go out she did, because Diaz has effectively retired from acting altogether.
In a 2018 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Diaz spoke alongside The Sweetest Thing co-stars Christina Applegate and Selma Blair. Applegate mentioned that she was semi-retired and Diaz responded, "That's so awesome... I'm semi-retired, too, and I am actually retired." In an August 2019 piece for InStyle, Diaz wrote about why she stopped acting, explaining, "I feel it's OK for me to take time for myself now to reorganize and choose how I want to come [back] into the world. If I decide to. I don't miss performing." She certainly doesn't seem to be in any hurry to come back; as she put it, "I'm not selling any films, and because I'm not selling anything, I don't have to give anybody anything. I'm not doing this anymore. I'm living my life".
