Alicia Silverstone reveals why she took breaks from acting – NBC10 Philadelphia

Originally appeared on E! Online

Alicia Silverstone is used to totally breakin’.

The “Clueless” star reflected on how her work on the beloved 1995 movie altered her career and prompted her to recalibrate her mindset toward acting.

“Before ‘Clueless,‘ I was much more intuitive and playful and had more confidence about what I was doing,” Silverstone told Entertainment Weekly in an interview published Aug. 14. “After ‘Clueless,’ for a minute I got a little stressed and made it more intellectual or something. I had about three or four years of this strange feeling.”

The 48-year-old added, “Acting is important to me, but I have taken breaks from it at times, and then come back to it because I loved it so much. I’ve figured out that you can do all the things.”

Indeed, Silverstone — who is set to executive producer and reprise her role as Cher Horowitz in a “Clueless” prequel series — has made sure to use her time throughout her career to fuel her passions. This is especially the case in the face of criticism for her less lauded movies, like when she earned the Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actress for the 1997 movie “Batman & Robin,” which she starred in opposite George Clooney and Chris O’Donnell.

READ These ‘Clueless’ Secrets Will Make You Want to Revisit the Movie More Than Just Sporadically

“We’re all humans, so obviously there are things that can hurt your feelings here and there,” she continued, “but I really just got into activism and my desire to make the world a better place.”

As if we can believe “Clueless” is 30 years old! The teen comedy classic may have premiered back in 1995, but its legacy lives on. Stars Alicia Silverstone, Breckin Meyer and Elisa Donovan, along with director Amy Heckerling and costume designer Mona May, celebrated the milestone while chatting with Access Hollywood at the Academy Museum’s anniversary screening.

Silverstone added, “I think that gave me something else to think about. I guess if [acting] was all I had, then perhaps I might be a bit more devastated.”

And while the “Crush” actress — who is mom to son Bear, 14, with ex-husband Christopher Jarecki — previously admitted she “stopped loving acting for a very long time,” she’s grateful for how it helped bolster her advocacy for animal rights and the environment.

“My body was just like, this is what I’m meant to do, I love it so much, I need to find a way to do both,” Silverstone told The Guardian in 2020. “To be able to be an actress and be an activist at the same time so that’s what I did.”