“Big Fish” star Alison Lohman explained why she decided to walk away from a career in Hollywood at the height of her popularity, and said she wanted to be a mother and start a family.
The 43-year-old actress said that she might eventually get back to acting, but for now, she doesn’t have any desire to lose her ability to simply be herself, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Her last movie, “Gamer,” hit the big screen in 2009. Prior to that, Lohman was a fixture in Hollywood for years, with such blockbusters as “White Oleander,” “Big Fish,” “Where The Truth Lies,” and “Drag Me to Hell.”
Lohman met Director Mark Neveldine that same year. The two got married, decided to leave Los Angeles, and start a family.
“So, we bought a farm in upstate New York on 200 acres,” Lohman shared. “It became like another role for me, but it was real life. It was so much fun. Then we started to have kids and it was so hard for me to get back into acting.”
On the 20th anniversary of White Oleander, a film that made her a star, Alison graciously agreed to speak to me about her big career, her quiet goodbye and why leaving Hollywood was the right choice to build the life she's now living out of the spotlight.https://t.co/wpArPoKd2c
— Chris Gardner (@chrissgardner) October 10, 2022
“I would see all these other actresses being able to have kids and still work but I realized that it was not for me,” she added. “I miss it but I cannot do two things at once, in terms of juggling motherhood and my career. I decided that I would be a mother and raise them and maybe later, get back into acting.”
“In the meantime, I started teaching acting on Skype, all over the world,” the former actress continued. “It’s been really fun to do that, too. So I’m just waiting now to see how life unfolds without putting too much pressure on myself to control it or plan [what comes next].”
Alison said it’s “nice to have that perspective when you can look back on something and learn from it,” but admitted that she never got into acting to be a star, and missed her anonymity.
“The whole reason I got into acting to begin with was to be able to bring real emotions to the table,” Lohman explained. “I love life. And sometimes I have a hard time [explaining the decision] because I always wanted to have kids and a family, that was always a huge thing for me.”
“In a way, if someone does find out that I was an actress before, in a weird way, it’s kind of a bummer because they don’t see me anymore,” she added. “The bubble bursts and I’m now an actress. I just want to be me.”