Originally appeared on E! Online<\/a><\/p>\n Elisha Cuthbert<\/a><\/strong> is back in the spotlight.<\/p>\n The Every Year After<\/a> actress is sharing insight into why she took a four-year break from acting before landing a role in Prime Video’s new hit TV series based on Carley Fortune<\/strong>‘s popular book series.<\/p>\n “I realized I worked all four years through our first child and it was really hard,” Cuthbert\u2014who shares two kids with husband Dion Phaneuf<\/strong>\u2014confessed during her June 17 appearance on Today<\/a>, “to separate that mom from the working person I was. So, when we had our second, I just felt like I didn’t want to waste any second of it and I didn’t want to be on set.”<\/p>\n The 43-year-old\u2014best known for starring in ’00s films like The Girl Next Door and Old School as well as hit TV shows including 24 and Happy Endings\u2014added, “I just felt like I needed to be at home with the kids and I enjoyed every minute.”<\/p>\n rr<\/p>\n More from E! Online<\/strong><\/p>\n But now that Cuthbert and her retired hockey player husband’s daughter Zaphire<\/strong> and son Fable<\/strong>\u2014born in 2017 and 2022, respectively\u2014are a little bit older, the Canadian star is ready to take on new acting roles.<\/p>\n “They’re in school now full time,” she noted on Today. “I feel like I have the space and the energy and the heart to kind of leave them and do it.”<\/p>\n And Cuthbert tapped into her maternal instincts for her first TV role in four years to play Sam (Matt Cornett<\/strong>) and Charlie’s (Michael Bradway<\/strong>) mom Sue in Every Year After (streaming now on Prime Video).<\/p>\n Justine Yeung\/Prime Video<\/p>\n “It’s crazy because I hadn’t read any of Carley’s books and then I got on the show,” she admitted of the series’ source material. “Obviously had the script, but I wanted to read the novel. And then I’m like, ‘Oh, I’m a superfan now.'”<\/p>\n “So,” Cuthbert continued, “I read all her books, they’re amazing. I recommend them.”<\/p>\n And Cuthbert is glad series star Sadie Soverall <\/strong>is rising to fame in a time that’s less harsh on women in entertainment.<\/p>\n “It was a lot of pressure,” she reflected of her ’00s icon status. “Sadie Soverall, it’s nice that she’s in a time now where she doesn’t have to worry about those things. It’s very different.”<\/p>\n Cuthbert certainly isn’t the first star to step away from Hollywood. Keep reading for more celebrities who escaped Tinseltown for quieter lives elsewhere.<\/p>\n Antonio Banderas<\/p>\n After the Mask of Zorro actor suffered a near-fatal heart attack in 2019, he moved back to his native M\u00e1lago, Spain, to focus on his love of theater.<\/p>\n \u201cIt changed the way I look at life,\u201d Antonio told <\/span>The Times<\/span><\/a> in March 2026.<\/span><\/span> \u201cFaced with death, it made me look back and realise that I am, in fact, a theater actor.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Now, the Tony nominee\u2014who still occasionally takes on TV and film projects\u2014owns a theater venue and gets involved with the local community.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI have never been so happy,\u201d he continued. \u201cIt keeps me in touch with my roots, my neighbourhood, my people. I haven\u2019t lost that connection over the years. Quite the opposite.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Elisha Cuthbert<\/p>\n Before landing a role in Prime Video’s Every Year After, The Girl Next Door actress took a four-year break from acting, leaving L.A. to raise her two kids with husband Dion Phaneuf<\/strong>.<\/p>\n “I realized I worked all four years through our first child and it was really hard,” Cuthbert confessed in June 2026 during an appearance on Today<\/a>, “to separate that mom from the working person I was. So, when we had our second, I just felt like I didn’t want to waste any second of it and I didn’t want to be on set.”<\/p>\n The 43-year-old\u2014best known for starring in ’00s films like Old School as well as hit TV shows including 24 and Happy Endings\u2014added, “I just felt like I needed to be at home with the kids and I enjoyed every minute.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Ellen DeGeneres<\/p>\n The Ellen DeGeneres Show host’s eponymous talk show ended in 2022 after a 19-season run amid allegations of a <\/span>toxic work environment<\/span><\/a> that prompted an internal investigation, multiple firings of executives and public ire.<\/p>\n Ellen returned to the spotlight for her final standup special For Your Approval, which released on Netflix in September 2024. During the lead-up to that special, she revealed she would be leaving Hollywood altogether.<\/p>\n “This is the last time you\u2019re going to see me,” she told a crowd during her Ellen\u2019s Last Stand\u2026Up tour, per <\/span>SFGate<\/span><\/a>. \u201cAfter my Netflix special, I\u2019m done.” Ellen and her wife Portia de Rossi<\/strong> have since moved to the Cotswolds, deciding to stay put in November 2024 after Donald Trump<\/a><\/strong>‘s reelection, the talk show host told<\/a> to Richard Bacon<\/strong> in a July 2025 conversation at the Everyman theater in Cheltenham.<\/span><\/p>\n “It’s absolutely beautiful,” she gushed about the English countryside, per the BBC<\/a>. “We’re just not used to seeing this kind of beauty. The villages and the towns and the architecture\u2014everything you see is charming and it’s just a simpler way of life.<\/p>\n “It’s clean,” Ellen continued. “Everything here is just better\u2014the way animals are treated, people are polite. I just love it here. We moved here in November, which was not the ideal time, but I saw snow for the first time in my life. We love it here. Portia flew her horses here, and I have chickens, and we had sheep for about two weeks.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Tyra Banks<\/p>\n One of the reasons the America’s Next Top Model host moved to Australia? To stay on top of her ice cream brand.<\/p>\n “So I have this ice cream company, SMiZE and Dream,” Tyra explained on an April 2025 episode of Today with Jenna & Friends<\/a>. \u201cBut we’ve been more what we call B2B, like on an airplane and on cruises. I\u2019ve been going to Australia a lot because we were making a lot of our ice cream there in a big facility doing our recipes. And I just fell in love with it every time I went back and went back.”<\/p>\n Not only was she happy there, but she also knew it was a good market for her business.<\/p>\n “The three countries that eat the most ice cream?” she continued. “America, New Zealand and Australia.”<\/p>\n So, the supermodel moved to Australia with her son York<\/strong> (his dad is her ex Erik Asla<\/strong>) and boyfriend Louis B\u00e9langer-Martin<\/strong>, noting, “Australia has been a dream come true for me and my family.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Eva Longoria<\/p>\n While it’s been a minute since the Desperate Housewives star lived on Wisteria Lane, she’s since found a new address IRL.<\/p>\n “I had my whole adult life here,” Eva told Marie Claire<\/a> in November 2024 about leaving Los Angeles. “But even before [the pandemic], it was changing. The vibe was different. And then Covid happened, and it pushed it over the edge. Whether it\u2019s the homelessness or the taxes, not that I want to s–t on California\u2014it just feels like this chapter in my life is done now.”<\/p>\n So for the past few years, the actress, her husband Jos\u00e9 Bast\u00f3n<\/strong> and their son Santiago<\/strong> have split their time between Mexico and Spain.<\/a><\/p>\n “I\u2019m privileged,” she continued. “I get to escape and go somewhere. Most Americans aren\u2019t so lucky. They\u2019re going to be stuck in this dystopian country, and my anxiety and sadness is for them.”<\/p>\n However, Eva noted her move wasn’t because of President Trump’s re-election.<\/p>\n “I didn’t leave because of the political environment,” the Flamin’ Hot director said on The View: Behind the Table<\/a> podcast in November 2024. “I left because my work took me there since Land of Women\u2014shooting six months in Catalonia, then four months in Mexico for Searching for Mexico, then back to Spain. Now I’ve been there for years. So I just don’t like that it’s politicized.”<\/p>\n Since moving, Eva has continued to stay busy, with recent projects including her roles in Only Murders in the Building and Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Road Trip.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Richard Gere<\/p>\n The actor has gone from Chicago to Spain<\/a>.<\/p>\n “My wife is Spanish, and she gave me about seven years here,” Richard said of Galicia native Alejandra Silva<\/strong> on a November 2024 episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon<\/a>. “And so we’re going to spend some years in Madrid.”<\/p>\n He also expressed his excitement over what the move would give the couple’s young sons Alexander <\/strong>and James<\/strong><\/strong>.<\/p>\n “Our kids are bilingual,” Richard, who also has an adult son Homer<\/strong> with ex Carey Lowell<\/strong>, added, “so they’re going to flourish there.”<\/p>\n Indeed, it seems the whole family has<\/a>.<\/p>\n “The truth is that you are seeing us in our momentum,” The Agency: Central Intelligence star told Elle Espa\u00f1a<\/a> in January 2025. “We are happier than ever.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Christina Milian<\/p>\n From AM to PM, the singer is living in Paris <\/p>\n “My husband is French, and we’ve been together for over seven or eight years,” Christina, who is married to singer Matt Pokora<\/strong>, said on a November 2024 episode of The Jennifer Hudson Show<\/a>. “And for the last three or four years we were commuting back and forth every six months.”<\/p>\n However, they decided to officially say au revoir to the U.S. so her kids\u2014who include daughter Violet<\/strong> from her former marriage with The-Dream<\/strong> and sons Isaiah<\/strong> and Kenna<\/strong> from her union with Matt\u2014could study in France.<\/p>\n “They’re all going to school in Paris,” she continued. “I was like, ‘What better than an opportunity than that?”<\/p>\n And life for the family appears to be magnifique.<\/p>\n “My kids are happy there,” the Dexter: Original Sin actress told E! in December 2024<\/a>. “They know French. We go to the park. I have an active lifestyle that’s really nice during the day. Then at night time, I do my work because I work hours ahead. It’s a nice, healthy balance for me.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Lindsay Lohan<\/p>\n Lindsay is tired of rumors starting about why she left Los Angeles.<\/p>\n So, she set the record straight while looking back at her hectic work schedule and partying in the aughts. <\/p>\n “I feel like some of [my work] got overshadowed by paparazzi and all that kind of stuff when I was younger, and that\u2019s kind of annoying,” The Parent Trap alum told Bustle<\/a> in March 2024. “I wish that part didn\u2019t happen. I feel like that kind of took on a life of its own. So that\u2019s why I wanted to disappear. I was like, ‘Unless there\u2019s no story here, they\u2019re not going to focus on just my work.'”<\/p>\n Lindsay moved abroad\u2014first to London then to Dubai (also opening beach clubs in Greece). However, there was another reason she sought a life away from the spotlight.<\/p>\n “I was like, ‘What if I never fall in love? What if this never happens?'” the Mean Girls star added. “And it took me just taking time for me for all those doors to open and the \u2018yeses\u2019 to come\u2014the things I wanted to say ‘yes’ to.”<\/p>\n Of course, Lindsay did find love with Bader Shammas<\/strong>, the pair marrying in 2022 and welcoming son Luai<\/strong><\/a> the following year. <\/p>\n They still live in Dubai, but the Freaky Friday actress hasn’t left the Hollywood industry completely, starring in movies like Our Little Secret, Irish Wish and Freakier Friday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Josh Hartnett<\/p>\n For Josh, the decision to leave Hollywood came after some self-reflection.<\/p>\n “Hollywood is more than a place; it’s like a state of mind,” the Black Mirror actor told People<\/a> in July 2024. “If you’re around people who are constantly talking about the movie business, your life is going to be pretty much one note. And I’ve never wanted that.”<\/p>\n Instead, he wanted more.<\/p>\n “I’ve always wanted to be around … people generally doing lots of other things that would bring my mind off of my work and force me to grow in different directions,” Josh added. “To me, that’s the spice of life.”<\/p>\n So, the Black Hawk Down alum, his wife Tamsin Egerton<\/strong> and their four kids moved to England’s Hampshire countryside.<\/p>\n “Time passes quickly,” he told The Guardian<\/a> in July 2024. “With four children, you have so much to do. In a way, less is happening. But more of the important stuff is happening.”<\/p>\n Still, Josh has stayed plenty busy and landed roles in Verity, Fight or Flight and Trap.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Jesse Eisenberg<\/p>\n If you haven’t checked your social network lately, then you might not know that Jesse doesn’t live in L.A.<\/a><\/p>\n “I\u2019ve lived in Indiana for the last decade on-and-off,” the A Real Pain star told CBS News Sunday Morning<\/a> in February 2025. “That\u2019s where I feel the most comfortable. I\u2019m not somebody who wants to surround myself in an industry that just feels kind of unstable to me.”<\/p>\n And while he’s an Oscar nominee, he lives a pretty normal life with his wife Anna Strout<\/strong> and son Banner<\/strong>.<\/p>\n “I’m not on social media, and I’m not a person who’s on the phone with industry people all the time,” Jesse also shared. “So, my life feels pretty separate. My wife is a teacher. My kid doesn’t really even watch movies. So, I’m not like knee-deep in the world of constantly trying to assess my own status in an industry.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Eliza Dushku\u00a0Palandjian<\/p>\n After appearing in such projects as Buffy the Vampire Slayer<\/span><\/a> and 2000’s Bring It On, Eliza revealed in September 2024 that she had become certified in psychedelic-assisted therapy and is furthering her studies as a mental health professional.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n “I had the means to shift directions and choose a course in my life that focused on healing myself so that I could help heal others,” she told <\/span>Boston Magazine<\/span><\/a>. “I would be remiss if I didn\u2019t now share the transformation and the peace and the passion that I have. This is just absolutely so clearly my real calling, my real purpose.”<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Rosie O’Donnell<\/strong><\/p>\n The Flintstones star revealed that she moved to Ireland in January 2025 with her youngest child Clay <\/strong>and was in the process of getting her Irish citizenship as her grandparents are from the European country. But while Rosie cited recent political developments as her reason for leaving, she didn\u2019t rule out an eventual return home.<\/p>\n “I miss my other kids,” she said in a video<\/a> on TikTok. “I miss my friends. I miss many things about life there at home and I’m trying to find a home here in in this beautiful country. And when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America, that’s when we will consider coming back.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Evangeline Lilly<\/p>\n The Ant-Man and the Wasp star announced she’s taking an indefinite hiatus from acting after 20 years in the industry.<\/p>\n “I am so filled with joy and contentment today as I live out my vision,” Evangeline wrote on Instagram<\/a> in June 2024. “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.”<\/p>\n But she isn’t necessarily shutting the door, either, adding, “I might return to Hollywood one day, but, for now, this is where I belong.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Ian Somerhalder<\/p>\n The Vampire Diaries<\/a> alum hasn’t sunk his teeth into a new role since Netflix’s 2019 series V-Wars<\/a>. Instead, he has dug a little deeper into a passion project, namely his mission to combat climate change by improving the world’s soil.<\/p>\n “I stepped away from acting a little over four years ago to raise my kids, build my companies and get these films launched,” Ian, who shares two children with wife Nikki Reed<\/strong><\/a>, told E! News in November<\/a> 2023 of launching the 2020 documentary Kiss the Ground and its follow up Common Ground, each detailing the need for regenerative farming.<\/p>\n When he looks years down the road, the actor continued, “I will be a rancher and building legacy brands, whether it’s my bourbon or my health and wellness company, and the regenerative agriculture and healthy soil management practices that I live by and our family lives by. That’s where my life was going. So when people say ‘Why do you care?’ That’s why I care. Because that’s who I am, that’s what I’m going to become.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n On a February 2021 episode of her podcast Empty Inside<\/a>, the iCarly alum told guest Anna Faris<\/strong><\/a> that she decided to stop acting a few years back and is now focused on opportunities in writing and directing, in addition to hosting the podcast.<\/p>\n “My experience with acting is, I’m so ashamed of the parts I’ve done in the past,” revealed Jennette, who detailed her experience in her 2022 memoir <\/span>I’m Glad My Mom Died<\/a>. “I resent my career in a lot of ways. I feel so unfulfilled by the roles that I played and felt like it was the most cheesy, embarrassing. I did the shows that I was on from like 13 to 21, and by 15, I was already embarrassed. My friends at 15, they’re not like, ‘Oh, cool, you’re on this Nickelodeon show.’ It was embarrassing.”<\/span><\/p>\n Though she hasn’t totally written off a second act. “I do feel like only through writing the book have I gotten to a place where I think there might be a way of exploring acting that doesn’t carry that baggage that I carried with me for so long,” she told E! News in October 2022. “Maybe if I write something for myself. I think that’d really be maybe one of the only ways I could kind of try exploring it again.”<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n This felt like something of a no-brainer. If we had a shot to marry Prince Harry<\/strong><\/a>, dedicate our life to the philanthropic causes that matter most to us and gain access to the Queen’s impressive collection of tiaras, bidding ta-ta to Tinseltown would feel like an okay sacrifice.<\/p>\n Following the path Grace Kelly<\/strong> took from Hollywood to the Palace of Monaco, Meghan left behind her home in Toronto\u2014and her breakout role on Suits<\/a>\u2014for a life in The Firm. Though, now that she and Harry have shed their senior roles and live in Montecito, Calif., she’s edging back into the business thanks to business moves like their multi-year production deal with Netflix<\/a>. <\/p>\n The Duchess of Sussex released her 2022 docuseries Harry & Meghan<\/a> as well as her 2025 lifestyle show With Love, Meghan <\/a>on the streaming service. She’s also launched podcasts<\/a> and her brand As Ever. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Cameron Diaz<\/p>\n Having made upwards of 40 movies since her debut in 1994’s The Mask, the actress was long overdue for a break when filming wrapped on 2014’s Annie.<\/p>\n “I just decided that I wanted different things out of my life,” she explained to<\/a> pal Gwyneth Paltrow<\/strong><\/a> of her ultimate act of self-care. “I had gone so hard for so long, working, making films and it’s such a grind. When you’re making a movie\u2014it’s a perfect excuse\u2014they own you. You’re there for 12 hours a day for months on end and you have no time for anything else.”<\/p>\n And there was plenty more she’d like to explore, from writing (she followed up her 2013 New York Times best-seller The Body Book with 2016’s The Longevity Book) to starting a family<\/a> with husband Benji Madden<\/strong><\/a>. But while Cameron confessed to InStyle<\/a> in 2019, “I don’t miss performing. Right now I’m looking at the landscape of wellness and all that,” apparently she could be swayed into making at least one encore.<\/p>\n “We just begged and pleased on my knees, like, ‘Just give the people one more again,'” Jamie Foxx<\/strong><\/a> told E! News<\/a> of getting Cameron to sign on<\/a> for the 2025 Netflix film Back in Action<\/a>. “We love her, we’ve been waiting on her and this is just gonna be fantastic.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Terrence Howard<\/p>\n The actor insisted there’d be no encore after he finished his five-year run on Empire. When Extra<\/a> asked Terrence about his future ahead of the musical drama series’ sixth and final season in 2019, he responded, “Oh, I’m done with acting. I’m done pretending.”<\/p>\n And though he returned to set for a handful of projects, the Oscar nominee again announced his plans to quit acting while promoting his Peacock series The Best Man: The Final Chapters<\/a> in 2022. “I’ve gotten to the point where now I’ve given the very best that I have as an actor,” he told ET<\/a>. “Now I’m enjoying watching other new talent come around, and I don’t want to do an impersonation of myself.”<\/p>\n Despite these comments, though, Howard has since appeared in a few more shows and movies, including the TV series Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist and Netflix film Shirley, with multiple projects lined up in the future.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Once his time as King Joffrey came to a sudden, purple-faced end in 2014, the then-21-year-old told EW<\/a> he was getting out of the game. “I’ve been acting since age 8,” the Game of Thrones star explained of his decision. “I just stopped enjoying it as much as I used to.”<\/p>\n No longer a child star, a bit of the magic had worn off. “Now there’s the prospect of doing it for a living, whereas up until now it was always something I did for recreation with my friends, or in the summer for some fun,” Jack continued. “I enjoyed it. When you make a living from something, it changes your relationship with it. It’s not like I hate it, it’s just not what I want to do.”<\/p>\n But after a six-year break, he was ready to resume his reign<\/a>, joining the cast of BBC’s series Out of Her Mind in 2020. Since then, Jack has also appeared in movies like Rebecca’s Boyfriend and In the Land of Saints and Sinners as well as TV shows like Safe Harbor and The Famous Five.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Phoebe Cates<\/p>\n When Fast Times at Ridgemont High’s dream girl (Jennifer Aniston<\/strong><\/a> took on her part in September 2020’s virtual table read<\/a>) wed fellow actor Kevin Kline<\/strong><\/a> in 1989, they “agreed to alternate so that we’re never working at the same time,” he told Playboy of their plan to care for son Owen<\/strong> and daughter Greta<\/strong> (a singer who now goes by the stage name Frankie Cosmos<\/strong>).<\/p>\n However, he continued, “whenever it’s been her slot to work, Phoebe has chosen to stay with the children.” Though she made a cameo in pal Jennifer Jason Leigh<\/strong>‘s 2001 indie The Anniversary Party, Cates devotes most of her time to operating her New York City boutique Blue Tree<\/a>. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n At the height of his Ghostbusters and Honey, I… fame, the ’80s star stepped away from filmmaking<\/a> not long after his wife passed away from breast cancer in 1991 to focus on raising his kids Rachel and Mitchell. <\/p>\n Though Rick hasn’t had a live-action movie role since 1997, even passing on a cameo in Paul Feig<\/strong>‘s 2016 Ghostbusters remake, he’s remained a treasured cultural icon, as evidenced by the outrage over reports that he’d been assaulted<\/a> while walking in New York City in 2020.<\/p>\n Thankfully there’s good news for fans: He’ll make <\/span>his triumphant return<\/a> alongside <\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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