These 11 Celebrity Stars Quit Hollywood And Don't Mind Explaining Why

If you've ever wondered what happened to your favorite film star, well, you might just find them on this list.

Daphnie

• Published in Film & TV
• April 10, 2022

Sometimes celebrities and film stars decided to "quit Hollywood" and go on to other things. There are a few stars that I have seen in television shows that haven't shown up anywhere else honestly and I've been wondering where they went.

It's no surprise that like all jobs, sometimes it just doesn't work out for the worker and they need to quit or leave that specific industry. This situation has happened to all 11 of these celebrities.

It's not always something dramatic and shocking that happens for someone to quit Hollywood, but sometimes people just don't want to do that job anymore or they want to expand their horizons.

We expect celebrities to stay in the spotlight doing movies, film, acting, and other high profile jobs, but we have to realize that not all of them want that and some of them have decided to take the reins and do their separate ways. We're going to look into these 11 celebrities who quit Hollywood and are focused on other projects and professions.

Some of these stars will be very familiar while others you might not have seen as often, but they still have made this list because of their decision to leave Hollywood and their roles on the big screen.

1. Jennette McCurdy

Jennette is mostly known for her role on iCarly, but she has stated that she took a break from acting and is now pursuing writing and directing. "My experience with acting is, I'm so ashamed of the parts I've done in the past," Jennette revealed.

"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."

2. Meghan Markle

3. Cameron Diaz

Cameron definitely deserved a break after working in film since 1994 and she decided to start her break after 2014 Annie was finished. She says,  "I had gone so hard for so long, working, making films and it's such a grind.

When you're making a movie—it's a perfect excuse—they own you. You're there for 12 hours a day for months on end and you have no time for anything else."

4. Terrence Howard

Terrence is done with the big screen since his five-year run with Empire is over. He says, "Oh, I'm done with acting. I'm done pretending."

He also states that he's focused on bringing the truth to the world.

5. Jack Gleeson

Jack told E! that he getting out of the acting 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." This might change, though, as he might resume the big screen in the series Out Of Her Mind.

6. Phoebe Cates

Phoebe has been sliding out of the business for a while since there was an agreement to never have her and Kevin Kline working at the same time so one could watch their children. However, every time her solo tot work comes up, she decides to stay with the children.

7. Rick Moranis

Rick stepped away from acting around 1991 when his wife passed away. Since then he has focused his time on their children.

Though his time on the big screen is up, he is said to return for a Disney reboot of Shrunk.

8. Leelee Sobieski

Leelee states that film is no longer an interest in hers to stay within the boundaries of her relationship. "Ninety percent of acting roles involve so much sexual stuff with other people, and I don't want to do that," she explained to Vogue.

"It's such a strange fire to play with, and our relationship is surely strong enough to handle it, but if you're going to walk through fire, there has to be something incredible on the other side."

She also states that she feels the main reason she quit is to focus on her kids.

9. Sean Connery

Sean says that he has no regrets about quitting in 2006. He says that "retirement is just too damned much fun."

10. Portia De Rossi

Portia quit Hollywood because she said she was looking to find something different. Here's more on that.

"I was approaching 45 and I just kind of…was wondering is there something that I could tackle now that I've never done before that would be really challenging and different," she explained on wife Ellen DeGeneres' eponymous talk show in 2018.

"I kind of knew what acting would look like for me for the next 10, 20 years, so I decided to quit and start a business."

11. Daniel Day-Lewis

Shortly after winning his sixth Oscar he put out a statement basically quitting acting. The statement says, "will no longer be working as an actor.

He is immensely grateful to all of his collaborators and audiences over the many years. This is a private decision and neither he nor his representatives will make any further comment on this subject."

Hearing some of these actors follow their dreams or simply just try something new shows that it's okay to switch career paths even if you are deemed as "in the perfect position." Sometimes there's more to it than the money.

Sometimes people just want to switch things up or just simply don't like what the industry offers anymore.

Daphnie