Cameron Diaz has been acting over two decades. She’s starred in countless films—from funny to drama and everything in between. And now? She’s decided to take a step back from acting to pursue a new life she’s always dreamed of.

In a recent interview with Gwyneth Paltrow, Diaz opened up about why she decided to permanently retire from her successful acting career. Though it might look like she had her life together on screen, Diaz actually felt like she had no room for anything personal.

“I just decided that I wanted different things out of my life,” she told her on Paltrow’s digital series, In Goop Health: The Session. “I had gone so hard for so long, working, making films and it’s such a grind. I didn’t really make any space for my personal life.”

Paltrow asked her the question of a lifetime—how it felt to “walk away from a movie career of that magnitude, that much success.” Diaz’s answer? “At peace. I got a peace in my soul. Because I finally was taking care of myself. … I just feel grounded and light.”

It’s almost as if Diaz has spent her career holding her breath and now that she’s at the end, she can finally breathe. The lives of Hollywood stars can really take its toll on exhaustion and overall business, and Diaz was no exception.

“It’s so intense to work at that level and be that public and put yourself out there,” she explained to Paltrow. “There’s a lot of energy coming at you at all times when you’re really visible as an actor and doing press and putting yourself out there.”

She continued to talk about the process of creating a movie—and just how easy it is to hand over the reins to, well, your entire life while doing it. There really just wasn’t room for anything else besides acting, and she was pretty tired of it—literally and figuratively. “When you’re making a movie, it’s the perfect excuse. They own you. You’re there 12 hours a day for months on end. You have no time for anything else,” she said. “And I realized I handed off parts of my life to all these other people, and they took it. And I had to basically take it back and take responsibility for my life.”

Kudos to Diaz for making this right move in her life! We only wonder where she’ll go from here.

To check out the interview, watch the video below.

Do you know of any actors who quit their acting careers?