Why Cameron Diaz is taking a break from Hollywood

Actress Cameron Diaz. Photo / Getty

Cameron Diaz stepped out of the spotlight because she didn't know who she was anymore.

The 'Charlie's Angels' actress hasn't been seen on the big screen since 2014 musical 'Annie' and she admitted she deliberately cut back on her work to take the time to make herself "whole" again.

Speaking to Gwyneth Paltrow at the Goop Wellness Summit over the weekend, she explained: "I just went, 'I can't really say who I am to myself.' Which is a hard thing to face up to. I felt the need to make myself whole."

The 44-year-old beauty - who previously dated the likes of Justin Timberlake, Jared Leto and Alex Rodriguez - didn't tie the knot until she was 41 and admitted she knew her relationship with Benji Madden was different from all those she'd had in the past.

Asked why she waited until later in life to get married, she said: "I think it's a matter of I just hadn't met my husband, you know? I had boyfriends before.

"And there's a really, really distinct difference between husbands and boyfriends. And I have a husband who is just my partner in life and in everything.

"I never experienced [the support he gives me] before. I'd never been loved in that way.
"I look at him every day and he inspires me--he works so hard. I feel so lucky."

And Cameron loves the fact she and Benji share values and are true equals in all the ways that matter.

She said: "Talk about two very different people! We are so different from one another, but we share the same values--we're totally two peas in a pod. We are both just weird enough for each other."

She added: "Somehow my husband has just been able to kind of show me what it's like not to have that be a part of a relationship, and being an equal."