Whether you’re a movie star or working a regular 9-to-5, there is a lot of value in taking a break from the chaos. For us regular folk, that might look like a vacation or a self-care day. But for lots of celebs, a break from the spotlight might involve going off-grid for several years.
Whatever form your break takes, it can have a significant impact on your life. So, without further ado, here are some side-by-side pics of celebs before and after they took long breaks from the public eye.
1.
First up, Jonah Hill stepped back from the public eye in 2022, after explaining that his anxiety attacks are “exacerbated by media appearances and public-facing events,” and that he would no longer be promoting his movies. Here he is in late 2021 promoting Don’t Look Up.
He’s been photographed on a couple of movie sets since then, but in February 2026, he made his first red carpet appearance in more than four years, looking noticeably different than before.
2.
After establishing himself as a true star in the ’90s, Brendan Fraser took a huge step away from the public eye in the 2010s while navigating physical injuries. (He also talked about managing the “emotional and personal distress” of his alleged sexual assault in 2003). Here he is in 2014.
And here he is at the Venice Film Festival in 2022, where he returned to the red carpet to promote The Whale, which would go on to win him an Oscar in 2023. Talk about a comeback!
3.
Adele is known to lay low between albums, but her break between the release of 25 (2015) and 30 (2021) was very notable indeed. Here she is in 2017, a few months after wrapping up her tour.
And here she is in October 2020, making her triumphant return to the public eye while hosting Saturday Night Live. Her album, 30, which came out the following year, centered on her divorce from Simon Konecki, whom she separated from during her break from the spotlight.
4.
Macaulay Culkin’s child acting career made him one of the most recognizable people in the world throughout the late ’80s and early ’90s. But with that fame and workload came serious burnout, leading him to retire from acting in 1994 at just 14 years old. Here he is in May that year.
Speaking about his retirement on the SmartLess podcast in December 2025, Macaulay said he “had a yearning to go to school” and spend time with people his own age. He took a decade off and eventually returned in the 2000s, starring in Party Monster (2003) and the comedy Saved! (2004). This is him at the Saved! premiere in LA.
5.
Between 2014 and 2025, Cameron Diaz took a major break from acting to focus on her family life, which included marrying Good Charlotte singer Benji Madden in 2015 and later welcoming two children. This is her at an event in 2016.
She called the break the “best” 10 years of her life. But in 2025, she made a return to star in the spy thriller Back in Action with Jamie Foxx — and seriously, she hasn’t aged a day!
6.
Dave Chappelle took a long hiatus from mainstream TV in the mid-2000s after abruptly leaving his hit Comedy Central series, Chappelle’s Show, at the height of its popularity. Here he is in 2007.
For nearly a decade, Dave lived a private life away from Hollywood and TV comedy. His comeback began around 2016 with an SNL hosting gig and a string of Netflix specials. This is him in 2016.
7.
Ke Huy Quan rose to fame as a child actor in the ’80s, starring in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and The Goonies. But, due to the lack of meaningful roles for Asian actors during the ’90s, Ke Huy was forced to step away from acting. The picture below is of him in 1984. (How adorable?!)
Fortunately, he was able to stay in the movie industry, studying at film school and working behind the scenes as an assistant director and stunt coordinator. Eventually, after a break spanning more than two decades, he got the comeback he deserved with Everything Everywhere All at Once, which earned him an Oscar win in 2023.
8.
In the ’90s, Lauryn Hill released one of the most acclaimed albums of all time, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, solidifying herself as an influential voice in hip-hop and R&B. But since then, she hasn’t pursued a life in the spotlight. Here she is at the 1999 Grammys, where she became the first rap artist to win Album of the Year at just 23 years old.
In rare interviews, Lauryn has talked openly about the struggles of fame, telling Rolling Stone in 2021: “I agreed to share my art, I’m not agreeing necessarily to share myself.” Luckily, she still tours and occasionally appears at public events. Here she is at the Met Gala in 2025.
9.
The 2010s were an awful time to be a Jennifer Lawrence hater because she was literally ruling the movie business, racking up multiple Oscar nominations, and dropping blockbusters left, right, and center. So, after the release of X-Men: Dark Phoenix back in 2019, she made the decision to scale back her public life and enjoy some well-earned downtime. This is her at one of her last public appearances before her hiatus.
During her time away from the spotlight, J.Law got married, experienced a pandemic (like the rest of us), and clearly spent a lot of time re-evaluating her image in the public eye. She eventually returned in 2021 — pregnant with her first child — to promote her role in Don’t Look Up, and we were certainly glad to see her gracing our screens once again. This photo is from her first red carpet appearance after more than two years away.
10.
After spending the 2000s starring in a string of our favorite rom-coms, Matthew McConaughey made the decision to step back from Hollywood to reinvent himself and decide what he really wanted to do with his career. Here he is at the premiere of Ghosts of Girlfriends Past in 2009.
“I wanted to try some other stuff…I wasn’t getting it, so I had to leave Hollywood for two years,” he previously recalled of the “scary” time period. As we all now know, he eventually returned in 2011 and pulled off what has become known as “The McConaissance,” culminating in his Oscar win for Dallas Buyers Club in 2014. What a turnaround!
11.
Josh Hartnett was literally everywhere in the late ’90s and mid-’00s, establishing himself as a true heartthrob in movies like Pearl Harbor, Virgin Suicides, and Black Hawk Down. But the fame that came with movie stardom wasn’t something he enjoyed, and he actively turned down roles that he thought would bring him more attention. “People’s attention to me at the time was borderline unhealthy,” he told the Guardian in 2024. “There were incidents. People showed up at my house. People that were stalking me…I just didn’t want my life to be swallowed up by my work.” Here he is being photographed by paparazzi in 2005.
So, throughout the 2000s and 2010s, Josh left Los Angeles and opted for a quieter life, choosing more low-key projects that resonated with him personally. Then, in 2023, he made a mighty comeback with a high-profile role in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, followed by M Night Shyamalan’s Trap, which came out in 2024.
12.
Though he was already a star, Titanic undoubtedly changed the trajectory of Leonardo DiCaprio’s life and career. But it also left him feeling desperate to escape the “intense” public attention. “It was a very surreal time period. It was bizarre,” he recalled in 2016. “I took a break for a couple of years because it was so intense.”
In 1998, Leo appeared in both Celebrity and The Man in the Iron Mask. His next movie didn’t come out until 2000, after he’d had some time to “recharge and refocus.” Here he is at the premiere for his comeback film, The Beach.
13.
And, finally, we have Rachel McAdams. Following the success of Mean Girls and The Notebook in 2004, Rachel decided to take a step back from Hollywood and actively turned down major roles in movies like The Devil Wears Prada, Casino Royale, Mission: Impossible III, Get Smart, and Iron Man.
Instead of taking these roles, Rachel moved back to Canada to protect her mental health, and after two years away, she resurfaced in 2008 with The Lucky One. Here she is at the Toronto International Film Festival after some time off.
So, which of these examples stood out to you the most? Jennifer Lawrence might be back in our lives now, but I, for one, can’t forget what a big deal her hiatus was! LMK your thoughts in the comments.
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