A List Of Celebrities Who Gave Up Fame And Came Back
Retiring from acting and singing? Is that even a thing? Why would any Hollywood star want to do anything else with their lives? Ask Iggy Azalea or Cameron Diaz.
Well, it appears many stars who've been living their lives in the spotlight have made clean breaks from Hollywood and decided to focus on their other endeavors. Some A-listers completely switch careers, some find solace, some decide to quit after hitting it big, some go back to leading a "normal" life and others leave and crawl right back.
Some Hollywood heavyweights disappear for so long, that most of the time, we don't even realize they're gone or that they simply quit the limelight. After all, since many stars get their big-screen acting debut when they're quite young, early retirement isn't a new fad. And, well, singers can't necessarily perform all over the world tirelessly for years either. So, which celebrities completed a semi-retirement? Find out below.
9 Nicole 'Snooki' Polizzi
In case you didn't know, Jersey Shore and "GTL" are still a thing! Yes, all these years later and the Italian-American New Jersey crew are still letting us into their wild and adventurous lives filled with drama, popcorn, tanning and alcohol.
Well, our favorite little meatball once packed up her suitcase and vouched she would never return to the spotlight. In December 2019, Snooki released the statement, "I have to do what’s best for me at the moment, and I am retiring from Jersey Shore." As a busy mother-of-three, the actress didn't stay home too long before she got the itch! Just two years later, she returned full-time for the fifth season of the show, Jersey Shore: Family Vacation. Can we get a fist pump, please?
8 Adrian Grenier
Have you binge-watched Netflix's newest drama miniseries Clickbait yet? Plot twist: Adrian Grenier had actually quit acting and just reappeared.
The face we know all too well because of his role on Entourage isn't one we've seen for numerous years now. Did you notice that he made a run from the Hollywood lights? The heartthrob we know as Vincent Chase left his fame behind for a self-sufficient life on a farm. In an interview with Austin Life, Grenier spoke of his other life goals, citing his reason of departure as permanently moving to Texas to pursue farming. He's living the simple life as a farmer, but Grenier suddenly emerged on our Netflix screens.
7 Barbra Streisand
No matter the path Babs decides to take for the rest of her days, she'll forever be an icon.
With over sixty albums to her name, she certainly is entitled to retirement right now, but that's not the case for the unstoppable Barbra Streisand. However, back in 1999, at the end of her Timeless tour, the highest-selling female recording artist of all time announced she was done with singing and performing. However, it wasn't long before she came to her senses and returned to the stage where she evidently belongs, in 2006.
6 Shia LaBeouf
We know his lovable face from Even Stevens as we'd rush home to watch it way back when, but Shia LaBeouf strayed off the path later on in bizarre ways.
With Transformer and other big roles, the actor got caught up in some unacceptable off-screen incidents. Instead of getting help and continuing his successful career, he announced in 2014 that he was "retiring from public life."
His continuous odd behavior and involvement in scandals didn't stop after his "retirement" though. And of course, shortly after his announcement, he reappeared in the spotlight in American Honey and other little projects.
5 Scott Weinger
His name may not automatically ring a bell, but Scott Weinger was a part of all our lives growing up! Young girls around the world wanted the "cute boy at school" to be our boyfriend - yes, we were totally jealous of D.J. on Full House. Weinger is also the voice behind one of our most beloved Disney characters, Aladdin!
However, despite landing successful roles and paving his way early on in his acting career, Weinger dropped the scripts for books. The actor who played Steve Hale in the family show quit being D.J.'s full-time boyfriend and cracked open the books at the elite Havard University. Well, it wasn't too long before his true calling dragged him back in. You can catch him in Fuller House!
4 Jay-Z
We haven't seen much of Jay and Bey lately, but that's not because Jay-Z quit Hollywood, although he once did.
In 2003, at only 33, Jay-Z had reached the pinnacle of his career and decided he'd leave the shady music industry behind. Without burning bridges, the hip-hop star claimed he was bored of being a superstar and was over the whole music scene. So, why did he end up making a comeback? In his own words: "It was the worst retirement in history."
3 Justin Bieber
Do you remember that time you heard hearts shatter around the world when Justin Bieber announced to his Beliebers on Twitter that he was done with his career?
The little innocent boy with the perfect smile and bob grew up under the Hollywood limelight and in 2013, started behaving in peculiar ways. With all eyes on the young star, the pressure got to the young singer, and on Christmas Eve of 2013, the worst present for Beliebers was delivered - he had announced his decision to quit.
Well, we all know how that worked out in the end.
2 Keira Knightley
It's no surprise that many celebrities have a difficult time dealing with all the perils that come with fame and the Hollywood spotlight.
Keira Knightley, who played memorable roles, had us all fooled. In 2010, while she was acting in her most successful projects, like Pirates of the Caribbean, she actually wasn't content. She explained to Vogue, "I wasn't enjoying what I was doing and I felt terribly guilty about that."
And thanks to her fabulous friend, the talented Carey Mulligan, Knightley made the drive back to where she belonged: onset.
1 Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn, the iconic Old Hollywood actress and face behind the infamous Breakfast at Tiffany's, will forever be in our hearts and on our minds.
Her career in the films is not one we can simply summarize, but in 1967, when Hepburn was on top with her radiant beauty and sophisticated charm, she decided to quit to focus on her family. She put her career on stall, but eventually made her way back, while still focusing on her other life goals, like being a dedicated philanthropist. The acting roles were sporadic, as the woman with a heart of gold was focused on helping the children of the world with UNICEF.
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