Acting is probably one of the most intense professions. Actors’ roads to fame are often rocky, as they are constantly in the spotlight of millions of people worldwide, either for their work or private lives. When their appearance in a movie is a hit, they are even more sought after by the media and fans, which can be very gratifying, yet also overwhelming. The same thing happens with actors who, for one reason or another, don’t feel comfortable being famous for their work, or the ones that get involved in a various Hollywood scandals that end up draining them.

For this reason, among many others, a number of great actors in the industry have decided to retire unexpectedly. Many of them did so after a lifetime spent in front of the camera and dozens of hit movies in their repertoire. Others, on the other hand, took a step aside as they no longer felt connected to the film industry. Such was the case of Mara Wilson, the promising young actress and star of Matilda, who in 2000 retired from acting and devoted herself to writing, only returning occasionally for small cameos or to lend her voice to a few characters.

Yet the movie and television industry can be very tempting for performers, and, frequently, a retired actor makes the news for their decision to come back for a movie or TV series role, something that usually pleases fans a great deal. This has recently happened with Cameron Diaz. Her last film role was in the 2014 movie Annie, alongside Jamie Foxx. Four years later, by 2018, Diaz announced her retirement from acting in order to devote herself to her family and explore other interests. However, in late June 2022, she announced her comeback to the industry, joined by none other than Foxx, her latest castmate. Both of them will star in the action-comedy film Back in Action for Netflix. Indeed, like Diaz, there are many artists who retired from acting and then eventually decided to get back into it. In this article, we will go through the stories of eight of them.

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8 David Letterman

     Netflix

By the time television host, comedian, and actor David Letterman decided to retire in 2015, he was already established as the longest-serving late-night talk show host in American television history, with over 6,000 episodes to his credit. However, three years later, Letterman came back to star in a very ambitious project: the Netflix talk show My Next Guest Needs No Introduction With David Letterman. The project earned rave reviews and it was even nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series or Special (twice). The show has been running for four seasons now.

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7 Emma Watson

     Summit Entertainment

By 2009, after shooting Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 and spending over ten years working on the franchise, Emma Watson decided to quit acting in order to focus on her studies at Brown University. At that time, and despite being one of the most successful stars of the franchise, Watson stated that she had lost her passion for acting and never wanted to do it again. However, she eventually re-entered the industry, and by 2012 she co-starred in The Perks of Being a Wallflower alongside Logan Lerman and Ezra Miller. Following that production, she went continued acting under the guidance of the most prestigious directors, with Little Women and the live-action Beauty and the Beast being two of her most notable projects.

6 Joe Pesci

     TriBeCa Productions

Joe Pesci is a remarkably versatile actor, and among his most outstanding films are Raging Bull, Goodfellas and Casino. In 1999, Pesci announced his retirement from the silver screen in order to pursue his other passion: music. He only resumed acting in 2006 under his friend Robert De Niro’s direction in The Good Shepherd, and by 2010 in Love Ranch. Nearly ten years after his last appearance in films, Martin Scorsese recruited him to play Russell Bufalino in The Irishman. After much insistence, per EW, Pesci accepted the part and the film became a smash hit. By 2020, Pesci was nominated at the Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor - Motion Picture.

5 Rick Moranis

     Walt Disney Pictures

Ghostbusters, Little Shop of Horrors, Parenthood, and Honey, I Shrunk The Kids are just some of the blockbusters in which talented Rick Moranis starred. Following this last one’s success, he reprised the role of Wayne Szalinski in the sequels in 1992 and 1997. However, from that year on, he momentarily retired from acting to dedicate himself full-time to his children, following the death of his wife, and since then he has not returned to acting, with the exception of lending his voice to the films Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the Island of Misfit Toys and Brother Bear. Over 20 years after he stepped away from acting, by 2018, Moranis confirmed that he would be returning to the silver screen to star in a reboot of Honey, I Shrunk The Kids entitled Shrunk, whose release has not yet been announced.

4 Anthony Hopkins

     Spyglass Entertainment

Anthony Hopkins is without a doubt one of the best actors of his generation, with blockbusters that are still relevant today. However, he came close to retiring several times during his career. The first time was in 1998, when he announced that he no longer wanted to pursue his acting career and that he would step aside. But this retirement didn’t last long, and within a year, he starred in Instinct, portraying anthropologist Ethan Powell. By 2011, Hopkins was close to giving up acting altogether, but fortunately, his part as Odin in the movie Thor gave him a new lease of life. From then on, the actor has kept himself very busy. His two latest projects so far are the movies The Son and Rebel Moon, both of whose release dates have not yet been announced.

3 Robert Redford

     Marvel Studios

Actor, director, and producer Robert Redford had already spent 58 years in the industry when, by 2018, he announced that The Old Man & the Gun would be his last film. He intended to devote himself entirely to directing. However, only a year later, he made his comeback to reprise his Captain America: The Winter Soldier role as Alexander Pierce in Avengers: Endgame, which became his last acting project to date, along with Omniboat: A Fast Boat Fantasia, a 2020 anthology film in which he voiced Lokia The Dolphin Monster.

2 Daniel Day-Lewis

     Miramax

Back in 2017, Daniel Day-Lewis announced his permanent retirement, and since then he has not acted again. However, this scenario actually repeated itself a few times in his career throughout the years. He first retired from the theater in 1989, when he left the stage in the middle of a Hamlet production and never came back. Regarding the film industry, his first retirement came in 1997, after appearing in The Boxer. He then moved to Florence, Italy and became a shoemaker’s apprentice. His comeback to the silver screen finally arrived thanks to Martin Scorsese, who convinced him to take part in his 2002 production Gangs of New York.

1 Clint Eastwood

     Warner Bros. Pictures

Clint Eastwood’s acting career wavered over the years. Back in the early 2000s, the actor stated that he would take a step away from acting in order to focus entirely on directing. This, however, did not last long, as in 2004 and then in 2008 he starred in Million Dollar Baby and Gran Torino. After this last movie, Eastwood formally announced his retirement from acting, and remained absent for several years. He only came out of his retirement to star in Trouble with the Curve, which marked the directorial debut of Robert Lorenz, his partner in productions. Following that starring role, Clint starred in The Mule and Cry Macho, which he also directed and produced.