Cate Blanchett and the stars who give up acting

A world of cinema and television without Cate Blanchett is a world that makes no sense. In a recent interview with Radio Times, the two-time Oscar-winning actress – in 2005 for The Aviator and in 2014 for Blue Jasmine – reaffirmed her intention to soon leave the scene. Yes, reaffirmed, because it's not the first time the Australian star has expressed a desire to say goodbye to acting. Back in 2019, during a conversation with Julia Roberts for Interview magazine, she admitted feeling close to those colleagues who, as they aged, repeatedly stated their desire to retire. "Now I understand it's because they want to hold on to the last shred of sanity," she said, reflecting on what she felt as she approached her fifties. However, many actors talk about quitting without really acting on it, often because they still have bills to pay rather than a true passion for continuing their work. Blanchett herself, after hinting she might leave Hollywood, went on to star in the series Disclaimer, the videogame adaptation Borderlands, and Steven Soderbergh’s spy movie Black Bag. Not to mention upcoming projects like Jim Jarmusch’s Father, Mother, Sister, Brother and David Zellner’s Alpha Gang, alongside Channing Tatum, Léa Seydoux, Dave Bautista, Steven Yeun, and Zoë Kravitz.

Often, it’s not just about bringing home a paycheck that drives actors to keep working, but rather a love — and in Blanchett's case, a talent — that's impossible to suppress. It's interesting to consider how many actors throughout film history decided to retire early. Often these are big names you wish you could see again and again on screen. Among the most recent is Daniel Day-Lewis, who took a seven-year break before returning to acting, and that too for a very specific reason. The actor agreed to star in the directorial debut of his son, Ronan, after his son's work on a short film and a music video. Their new project Anemone sees the father co-writing the script with Ronan. Only a father's love could bring back the three-time Oscar winner (My Left Foot, There Will Be Blood, Lincoln) to the camera, leading to questions about whether Daniel Day-Lewis’s return is a fleeting comet or a true revival of his career, momentarily interrupted after Paul Thomas Anderson's 2017 film Phantom Thread. It wouldn't be the first time: it’s well known that around the early 2000s, the star took a break from Hollywood’s frenzy by working as a cobbler in Florence. That break was shorter than the current one, or the ten years that Cameron Diaz allowed herself from 2014 before returning in 2025 with Netflix’s comedy Back in Action — and funnily enough, Day-Lewis’s comeback movie Gangs of New York featured Diaz as well.

Diaz, whose last role was in the musical Annie, said that the ten years away from acting were the best of her life, but, encouraged by her husband Benji Madden and a renewed passion for acting, she decided to give herself a second chance. She already has Outcome directed by Jonah Hill in post-production, and will also voice a new installment of Shrek 5. Similarly, Renée Zellweger took a break from 2010 to 2016, returning with her iconic role as Bridget Jones in Bridget Jones's Baby and winning her second Oscar four years later for Judy. In some cases, however, the break seems permanent. Since 2010, Jack Nicholson hasn't appeared in any films, without ever making an official announcement. According to director James L. Brooks, the last to direct him in How Do You Know, Nicholson still reads scripts, but memory issues seem to keep him away from sets — similar to the heart problems that led Gene Hackman to retire quietly in New Mexico, where he lived with his wife Betsy Arakawa until his passing in February 2025.

There are cases where retirement was forced. Some became disillusioned with Hollywood’s offers, like Eva Mendes, who took a break in 2014 to focus on motherhood after her last appearance directed by her husband Ryan Gosling in Lost River. Mendes has said she isn't interested in projects involving violence or sexuality. Similarly, Sean Connery grew tired of working "with idiots" and likely felt disheartened by the flop of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, his last big screen film. Then there are those whose roles simply dried up, like Shelley Duvall, who passed away in 2024 and had only appeared in the 2023 indie horror The Forest Hills, twenty-one years after her last film Manna from Heaven. The Shining star said she took "the longest sabbatical of my life" after a combination of fewer job offers and her brother’s spinal cancer diagnosis, explaining her long absence in one of her most memorable interviews with The Hollywood Reporter in 2023.

There are very few whose retirement elevated their legend. Perhaps only one: Greta Garbo, who retired from acting at thirty-six after starring in about twenty films from the 1920s to her final film in 1941, Two-Faced Woman by George Cukor. Its poor reception caused her deep disappointment. Reclusive when it came to interviews, red carpets, and promoting her films, Garbo didn’t even attend the Academy Honorary Award ceremony in 1955. She remains remembered for the image of her classic Hollywood years: downcast eyes, sad expression, introspective aura. The madame Grusinskaya of Grand Hotel who, as she herself clarified, never meant to "be alone" — only to be left in peace — yet lives on every time one of her films is shown.