Breaks and Comebacks: Actresses who took time off from acting

In Hollywood lots of famous actors and actresses have taken breaks from acting as they do this for different reasons like focusing on their personal life, taking care of their mental health or trying out other things they like.

Sometimes they need a break to recharge before jumping back into acting as these breaks can be short or long and some celebs use this time to do other stuff like producing movies, directing or doing charity work.

Here is the top Hollywood celebs who took a break from acting:

Jennifer Lawrence

Jennifer Lawrence announced back in 2018 that she was planning to take a year off from acting after starring in the movie Red Sparrow. The American actress said, “I am going to be working with organization as a part of Represent Us……trying to get young people engaged politically on a local level.”

Since then, apart from briefly playing her role again in the X-Men series, the Passengers star has not been in any other movies or TV shows. However, Jennifer does have four movies in different stages of production now.

Gwyneth Paltrow

In 2016, Gwyneth Paltrow announced that she was taking a break from acting to focus on her lifestyle brand, Goop. Since then, the Iron Man actress done a few acting roles mostly reprising her role a Pepper Potts in Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

Gwyneth has mentioned that she might return to acting someday particularly in theater but in recent years it seems like she has focused mostly on Goop, her wellness and lifestyle.

Selena Gomez

Selena Gomez has taken breaks form performing in the past and she even left two tours because the Calm Down singer was dealing with lupus, depression and anxiety.

For a while, Selena was not doing scripted TV or movie work but later, the Spring Breakers star got back into acting with the series Only Murders in the Building.

Eva Mendes

Eva Mendes is not totally against acting but she is being more selective about the roles the actress takes now. The Ghost Rider actress revealed that she would rather spend time with her children. “As a mother now, there are many roles I won't do. There are many subject matters that I don't want to be involved with, so it limits my choices, and I'm fine with that. I have to set an example for my girls now.”

Eva further explained that she will return “when there's something worthwhile to be a part of.”

Emma Watson

Emma Watson has taken breaks from acting over the years as she took time off to go college and to work as a goodwill ambassador for United Nations (UN). The Beauty and the Beast actress worked on the HeForShe campaign which promotes gender equality and she started a global book club.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower star came back to acting for a role in the movie Little Movie as some fans worried Emma might be retiring from acting after her agent reportedly said she was not looking for new roles. But the 35-year-old’s agent later debunked this, saying her social media is dormant but not her career.

Evangeline Lilly

Evangeline Lilly announced she is taking a break from acting to focus on herself, family and humanitarian work and in a post on Instagram in 2024, the Real Steel actress shared a video from 2006 where she talked about wanting to be a “retired actress” in 10 years, have a family, write and influence people’s lives in a humanitarian way.