Being a celebrity isn’t all it’s cracked out to be, even though we like to pretend it is.
Sure, there are perks, such as money and status. But there are also a lot of downsides, too, like no longer having normalcy.
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For some celebs, they quickly decided fame wasn’t worth it. Here are 10+ stars who quit Hollywood to have normal lives.
1. Jack Gleeson
It wasn’t easy for this actor to play one of the most hated characters in television history.
That, of course, was the role of Joffrey Baratheon on HBO’s Game of Thrones , who met his end at the Purple Wedding episode.
After his character was killed, he retired from acting at the age of 21.
“I’ve been acting since age 8. I just stopped enjoying it as much as I used to,” he told Entertainment Weekly .
“When you make a living from something, it changes your relationship with it. It’s not like I hate it, it’s just not what I want to do.”
2. Dylan Sprouse
While his twin brother, Cole, has remained in the spotlight with a role on Riverdale , Dylan took a different route.
The former Suite Life of Zach and Cody star is dating model Barbara Palvin and runs his own mead brewery .
3. Danny Lloyd
You might remember Lloyd as the kid from The Shining , starring Jack Nicholson.
After all, there’s not much else to go off of since he quit Hollywood after at the age of 13.
He told *The Guardian* his reasons for quitting.
“It was exciting. But as I got a little bit older, it got kind of boring,” he said .
These days, Danny works as a biology professor at a community college in Kentucky.
4. Grace Kelly
Like Meghan Markle, Grace Kelly left Hollywood to pursue life as a royal.
During her time as an actress, she was known for her roles in High Noon and The Country Girl .
She retired in 1956 to become the princess of Monaco.
5. Mara Wilson
After starring as Matilda and Robin Williams daughter in Mrs. Doubtfire , Wilson was one of the most beloved child actors in Hollywood.
She eventually quit as a tween due to the pressures of Hollywood, according to People .
“I realized, ‘I don’t fit their idea of what a Hollywood actress looks like, so there’s no room for me here.’ It’s hard to come out of that sane and without some serious doubts about yourself.”
In the end, she and her dad decided that she would pursue school instead.
She’s since graduated college and has even written a memoir about being a child actress. It’s called Where Am I Now?: True Stories of Girlhood and Accidental Fame .
6. Michael Schoeffling
After starring as the heartthrob Sixteen Candles alongside Molly Ringwald, Schoeffling had a promising career ahead of him.
Instead, though, he quit Hollywood to become a carpenter. These days, he reportedly had his own furniture company.
7. Frankie Muniz
In the early 2000s, the actor was everywhere: Malcom in the Middle , Big Fat Liar , and Agent Cody Banks , just to name a few.
But in 2006, he retired from the spotlight to pursue his other interests, such as race car driving. These days, he owns his own olive oil store with his wife.
8. Cameron Diaz
She’s been one of Hollywood’s biggest stars for decades, with roles in The Mask , Charlie’s Angels , and Shrek .
But in 2014, she unexpectedly retired. She later said that she “doesn’t miss performing.” Now, she’s busy with her first child with husband, Benji Madden!
9. Freddie Prinze, Jr.
For a while during there in the late ’90s and early ’00s, Freddie was everywhere.
He starred in the movies I Know What You Did Last Summer , She’s All That , and Scooby Doo . But things have changed a lot since then.
He married fellow ’90s actor, Sarah Michelle Geller, and the two of them started building a family.
These days, he does some voiceover work.
But more than anything, he’s turned his passion of cooking into a career. In 2016, he released the cookbook, Back to the Kitchen .
10. Meghan Markle
Normal may be a stretch, but Meghan did leave her career as an actress to become a member of the royal family.
She was most known for starring in the legal drama Suits , plus some Hallmark movies.
Being a royal didn’t exactly pan out for the star.
In January, she and Prince Harry announced that they were stepping down from the royal family in an official capacity.
They are currently residing in Los Angeles with their son, Archie, and Meghan is dipping her toes back into acting.
