10 Famous Actors Who Chose Family Over Their Careers

It's difficult to balance children and family with any type of career. But it can be particularly challenging for actors, given how much time away from home — often in another country entirely — is required to create and promote the work. Some handle that balance better than others, with stories of kids raised by actors ranging from those who said they had the best parents in the world to those who barely ever saw or knew their parents at all. 

Some actors ultimately come to the conclusion that raising a family should take precedence over their careers. For most, that simply means taking a little time off at the beginning of their children's lives, much like when those of us with regular ol' civilian jobs go on maternity/paternity leave.

But some actors step away from the field indefinitely to become full-time parents, taking years — if not decades — away from Hollywood so they can focus entirely on parenthood. In fact, that ends up being one of the more common reasons why celebrities quit acting for good.

The world was over the moon when it was revealed that Rick Moranis would be reprising his iconic role of Dark Helmet for "Spaceballs 2." Not only were people just excited that the sequel was finally happening in the first place, but that Moranis was actually going to be in it. The actor had been in a sort of unofficial retirement for much of the 21st century, not appearing in a single live-action film and doing only sporadic voice work and television appearances.

Moranis famously declined to appear in any of the three modern "Ghostbusters" movies, and didn't even voice his own titular character in the 2009 animated series "Bob & Doug" despite co-creating the show. Ultimately, he doesn't do anything he isn't interested in doing, and doesn't feel beholden to anyone to make cameos or reprise characters just for the sake of doing so. 

The reasons Moranis stepped away from Hollywood were at least partially creatively driven, as the actor wasn't proud of the quality of his film output, nor the tightening of the reins around how much rewriting of his characters he was allowed to do. But much of it had to do with the death of his wife and finding himself a single father. Moranis initially took time off from acting to grieve and spend more time with his kids, but he found he didn't miss Hollywood as much as he thought. So he just kept spending time with his kids instead of acting just to act.

The 1980s were a decade that wasn't lacking "it" girls. Even so, Phoebe Cates managed to be one of the most it of the it girls, thanks almost entirely to her roles in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" — and a certain pool scene therein — as well as both "Gremlins" films. She then cemented herself as the centerpiece of tween girls' sleepovers for years to come by starring in the cult hit "Drop Dead Fred." But after barely stopping to take a break between 1982 and 1994, Cates all but dropped off the face of the earth. 

In the days before the internet and constant access to celebrity news and gossip, people initially weren't entirely sure what had happened to Cates. It was known that she had married actor Kevin Kline and that the couple had welcomed two children together by that point. But with Cates still only being in her early 30s, and with plenty of potential career left, nobody assumed that she had already stepped away from acting to focus entirely on her family.

Of course, we now know that that is exactly what she did. Other than in the 2001 film "The Anniversary Party" as a favor to friend Jennifer Jason Leigh, you never hear from Phoebe Cates anymore. She hasn't added a single additional acting credit to her filmography since 1994. Instead, she's spent the last 30 years as a wife, mother, and businesswoman. 

After cranking out some of the most iconic teen horror movies and romantic comedies of the turn of the millennium, Freddie Prinze Jr. — alongside wife and fellow uber-successful teen star Sarah Michelle Gellar — starred in the enormously popular 2002 "Scooby-Doo" live action film. By that point, they both had enough money in the bank to scale back on their careers and shift focus to family life. And they both did that to an extent, though Prinze Jr. definitely stepped away much more significantly than Gellar did.

People don't necessarily have to retire outright or take a defined break to be considered to have prioritized family over career. To that end, Prinze Jr. never fully went away after his heyday, from sporadic animated voice work to the role you likely forgot he played on "Bones" during its ninth season. But he certainly didn't keep the same trajectory as the beginning of his career, and that was due in large part to putting family first.

Younger filmgoers, or those with short memories, might not realize that Demi Moore ever scaled back her acting career. The actor has been firing on all cylinders in recent years, and several of Moore's best movies have been some of her more recent efforts — most notably, her Oscar-nominated performance in 2024's acclaimed body horror masterpiece "The Substance." But Moore, at one point, did step back from what had been a very busy career because she had three daughters to raise: Tallulah, Scout, and Rumer Willis, all three with ex-husband Bruce Willis.

Moore told Glamour in 2024 that a perfect storm of decisions and events caused her to reevaluate her career in the late '90s. "My mother died, my marriage ended and I stepped back from work to be with my kids. And there was a moment I realized that my own success — which had been a real driving thrust, a real motivation — wasn't enough." She continued, "I had to reconnect with what moved me — why was I really doing this?"

While Moore worked steadily throughout the 2000s and beyond, it was a far cry from her previous pace — the actor starred in a whopping nine films across 1995, 1996, and 1997. So it wasn't so much that she took a break to focus on her family, but rather that she slowed things down to a more reasonable pace. 

On the surface, it might not seem impressive or a big deal that Cary Grant stopped acting once he had a daughter. After all, he was already 62 at the time and had a full career of more than 70 films behind him. But in the 1960s, it wasn't the norm for a man to become a full-time parent, with that kind of thing typically considered the domain of women and mothers. Grant was also determined to give his daughter, Jennifer, a better childhood than he had.

As Jennifer told The Guardian in 2023, "Given the pain of [my father's] upbringing, which forced him to push down a lot of it, he could have self-immolated, right?" She continued, "but it motivated him. And I think he wanted to be sure not to repeat the pattern. So the pendulum swung the other way. All the neglect he suffered meant he made sure that that was not my life."

Unfortunately, Grant's age at the time of her birth meant that Jennifer didn't have her dad for as long as she would've liked. The legendary actor passed away when Jennifer was only 20, and he never got to meet his grandchildren — one of whom Jennifer named after her father. Which leads to Jennifer sharing this funny anecdote: "Occasionally a teacher will say to my son: 'Oh, Cary Grant, your mother must've loved that actor!' And he'll say, 'that was my grandfather.'"

Though she already had a few major films under her belt, it wasn't until Elizabeth Hurley accompanied Hugh Grant to the premiere of his movie "Four Weddings and a Funeral" in that headline-grabbing black dress that she became a household name. A few years later, she played Vanessa Kensington in "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery" and finally became famous as an actor in her own right — rather than for being the sexy girlfriend of another actor. 

Hurley appeared in a number of films throughout the latter half of the '90s and into the early aughts, including "Serving Sara," "Bedazzled," "The Weight of Water," and a brief appearance in the second "Austin Powers" movie. After 2004's "Method," Hurley's acting roles go cold for a full six years, emerging only to play herself in a 2010 comedy and host or play herself before taking another three-year hiatus.

In a 2024 appearance on Tamron Hall, Hurley explained that her son Damian was the impetus for the break. "I stopped going to work for big jobs because I didn't want him to grow up on a set or ... a trailer or to have tutors," she said. "I wanted him to have a really regular life. That was really important to me." Damian is now a model, actor, and filmmaker.

After getting stuck cranking out forgettable rom-coms and mindless action movies like so many other stars of her day, Sandra Bullock turned things around in a big way in the 2000s. That is when she began to appear in more highly acclaimed films, including a 2004 turn in best picture winner "Crash". She would eventually become a two-time best-actress nominee herself, taking home the prize for her role in the sports biopic "The Blind Side."

Bullock stayed busy throughout the 2000s and 2010s, balancing blockbuster crowd pleasers with more nuanced, character-driven work. However, 2022 brought the news that we might not see Bullock on screen for a while. And as of yet, that has held true, with that year marking her most recent screen credits. As Bullock told ET Online, "I just want to be 24/7 with my babies and my family. That's where I'm gonna be for a while." 

The actor never said she was outright retiring, though. In fact, later this year, she is set to return to the screen for the first time in four years for the long-awaited "Practical Magic 2." Her third film with Keanu Reeves, after "Speed" and "The Lake House", is also said to be in the works, though no timeline for its production or release has been revealed.

After a few minor roles in the late '90s, Eva Mendes's career skyrocketed in the 2000s thanks to breakthrough performances in "Training Day," "2 Fast 2 Furious," and "Once Upon a Time in Mexico." She then spent the decade as one of Hollywood's most in-demand leading ladies, appearing in a variety of genres and opposite just about every major actor of the era.

In 2011, that list of famous co-stars came to include Ryan Gosling as they filmed "The Place Beyond the Pines" together. Gosling and Mendes began dating during the production, and by 2014, they were parents. Mendes immediately sidelined her own acting career to focus on their child, which became focusing on children, two years later. Looking back on the decision to become a full-time mom, Mendes told Today in 2024, "It was like a no-brainer." As far as Gosling continuing to be an actor while Mendes stayed home, she continued, "it was almost ... a non-verbal agreement, and it was like, okay, he's gonna work and I'm gonna work, I'm just gonna work here." 

Aside from the animated series "Bluey," Mendes hasn't had a single screen credit since 2014. That being said, she hasn't completely sworn off her old career. Mendes would agree to return to acting under one condition: That the content be kid-focused and family-friendly. That would explain why she semi-unretired for "Bluey."

Cameron Diaz had zero acting experience when she was cast in her debut role in "The Mask," having gotten the part entirely through an agent's recommendation — and, well, being a model. But Diaz took it seriously and took acting classes after being cast, not content to just fumble her way through while looking hot. The work paid off, and soon Diaz shifted full-time from modeling to acting, starring in some of the biggest films of the '90s and 2000s. 

Through films like "Being John Malkovich," "Vanilla Sky," "Any Given Sunday," and "Gangs of New York," Diaz proved her acting chops in a variety of genres, as well as working with some of Hollywood's most acclaimed filmmakers. In 2017, after having worked nearly nonstop for 20 years, Diaz announced a break from acting due in no small part to how much traveling was involved in the profession. It was also around that time that she had started splitting her efforts among other endeavors, including book writing and entrepreneurial work. 

That break would subsequently coincide with the birth of her first child, at which point the hiatus turned into what she said at the time was her retirement. Diaz has since returned to acting with several new projects in the works, but not before she took nearly a decade off with no new films between 2014 and 2025. 

After making her acting debut in Nickelodeon's scrappy 1989 western comedy series "Hey Dude," Christine Taylor kicked around for a few years before her true breakthrough — playing Marcia in the surprisingly great "The Brady Bunch Movie." Her star grew with her appearances in "The Wedding Singer" and "Zoolander," the latter of which marked her first film with new hubby Ben Stiller. They would again co-star for "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story," the first movie they made together since becoming parents.

Even that early into motherhood, Taylor was already finding herself mentally checking out of the world of acting. Describing to IGN how she reacted after Stiller told her about "Dodgeball" and that there was a part for her, Taylor said, "I had been out of the loop for so long, I'd just had a baby. I was just so not in that mode." Another baby and another movie (Tropic Thunder") together later, and Taylor finally realized she wanted to be a mom and not much else. 

As she told The Morning Call in 2010, "I wanted to be a part of it all. I didn't want to miss anything, and with Ben working as much as he does, I felt it was important for one of us to be the stability in the family." Taylor never fully quit acting, but she only does so occasionally and seldom plays a major character.