15 Stars Who Left Hollywood: From Meghan Markle to Daniel Day-Lewis and More

Despite scoring success after starring in Melrose Place, Andrew Shue decided to change his career by founding the social media site CafeMom in 2006.

Shue still made headlines when he married Amy Robach in 2010. However, their union did not last due to her affair with T.J. Holmes, and the infidelity led to a divorce.

Two and a Half Men alum Angus T. Jones quit Hollywood following his time on the sitcom. He previously told fans to stop watching the show following his baptism into the Seventh-Day Advent Church.

Jones attended college at the University of Colorado at Boulder afterward and remained out of the spotlight. But on June 29, the former child star was spotted again in a rare public outing in Los Angeles.

Bridgit Mendler changed her career and pursued a master's degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2018. She soon earned a PhD and began pursuing a law degree from Harvard Law School.

The former Disney Channel star marked her latest acting role in 2019 in Netflix's Merry Happy Whatever. Still, she decided to spend most of her time as the CEO of Northwood Space.

"We are designing shared ground infrastructure from first principles to expand access to space. We have a lot of work ahead of us, but that’s the fun part," Mendler said of the project.

After decades of acting in Hollywood, Daniel Day-Lewis announced his retirement from acting in June 2017.

“He is immensely grateful to all of his collaborators and audiences over the many years. This is a private decision and neither he nor his representatives will make any further comment on this subject," a spokesperson said.

The move came after Day-Lewis worked on Paul Thomas Anderson’s Phantom Thread, which earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Actor.

Lost actress Evangeline Lilly surprised her fans when she announced she would leave the acting industry. She reposted a video she recorded in 2006 in which she expressed her desire to become a retired actress.

“I am so filled with joy and contentment today as I live out my vision. Praise God, I feel so grateful for my blessings. Stepping away from what seems like the obvious choice (wealth and fame) can feel scary at times, but stepping into your dharma replaces the fear with fulfillment. I might return to Hollywood one day, but, for now, this is where I belong. A new season has arrived, and I AM READY…and I AM HAPPY," she wrote on Instagram.

Frankie Muniz decided to become a racing driver after ditching Hollywood.

The Agent Cody Banks star said, “I never felt like I fully fit in the Hollywood world, even though I was in the world. I was nominated for Emmys and Golden Globes, and I was going to all this stuff, and I was there, and I was like, 'How am I here?'"

Ian Somerhalder left Hollywood years ago — and he doesn't regret it!

“I love what I did for a really long time,” he told E! News. “I love making films, I just did it for so long. We had an amazing run.”

While he left his acting career behind, the V Wars actor found passion in filmmaking. He recently worked on Common Ground as an executive producer.

Jennette McCurdy decided to stop acting and focus on directing and writing instead following the success of iCarly.

"My experience with acting is, I'm so ashamed of the parts I've done in the past. I resent my career in a lot of ways. I feel so unfulfilled by the roles that I played and felt like it was the most cheesy, embarrassing. I did the shows that I was on from like 13 to 21, and by 15, I was already embarrassed. My friends at 15, they're not like, 'Oh, cool, you're on this Nickelodeon show.' It was embarrassing," she wrote in her 2022 memoir, I'm Glad My Mom Died.

The former Nickelodeon star also disclosed she initially did not want to do it. However, McCurdy did so as she had to support her family financially.

Jennifer Stone put her acting career on hold to become an emergency room nurse at a Los Angeles hospital. Her career move came after she was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.

“I wanted to be somebody that was like, ‘Look, I've been where you've been, and it gets better,’” she told People. “The hardest phase of a diagnosis story is the not knowing what's going on with your body, not knowing how to treat it. I think that's the most challenging part.”

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air alum Karyn Parsons left Hollywood to pursue different careers.

In 2002, she founded the Sweet Blackberry Foundation, which produces animated films and books about Black heroes. She also published three children's books over the years.

From being a cast member of Suits, Meghan Markle became a royal when she wed Prince Harry. Her pursuit of having a full-time royal life came to an end when she and her husband decided to shed their senior roles.

Over the years, the Duchess of Sussex has been trying to make her way back to Hollywood. In October 2023, a source told Us Weekly about her plans for her "Hollywood reinvention."

"[She] has a new team around her, and they’ve been strategizing about what mediums will have the most impact," said the insider.

Phoebe Cates initially had a deal with her husband, Kevin Kline, to work in Hollywood alternately. However, the Fast Times at Ridgemont High alum later decided to stay with their children and leave the industry for good.

In 2019, Terrence Howard announced his retirement from acting. He returned shortly after, but he resumed his short-lived retirement and left Hollywood for good.

"This is the end for me. This is the end for me," he told ET. "I don't know if it's the end for the rest of them."