Some of Hollywood’s leading men like Bryan Cranston, Chris Hemsworth, and Tom Holland made headlines recently after revealing that they are choosing to step away from the spotlight.
The actors, who have all been part of the movie-making business for at least the last decade, are saying goodbye to Hollywood for a variety of reasons that include the demands of their career on their marriage and family.
In June, 67-year-old Cranston said after some twenty years of putting his career front and center he plans to take a prolonged step away from acting in three years following the completion of several projects. The star, who’s career really took off with his 2009 TV show “Breaking Bad,” said his wife, Robin Dearden, has supported him all these years and it’s time for the “paradigm” to change.
“For the last 24 years, Robin has led her life holding onto my tail,” the “Better Call Saul” star told British GQ. “She’s been the plus one, she’s been the wife of a celebrity. She’s had to pivot and adjust her life based on mine. She has tremendous benefit from it, but we’re uneven. I want to level that out. She deserves it.”
Bryan Cranston is looking forward to getting reacquainted with his wife when he takes a break from acting! pic.twitter.com/jF3uEzhR15
— Entertainment Tonight (@etnow) June 13, 2023
“I look at it like the warning light going off on your dashboard,” he added. “It’s telling you, ‘You might want to pay attention to this.’ I love my wife, and we want to go the distance, but I want to do it in a healthy way. I don’t want to just be with her. I don’t want to just have the two of us go into a restaurant and no one says a word.”
After the report came out, Cranston took to Instagram and said he wanted to clarify he wasn’t retiring but instead hitting the “pause” button to do things like “spend time with Robin” and get a sort of a “reset” in his career.
Dearden and Cranston met on the CBS show “Airwolf” in 1986. At the time, both were with involved with other people but soon started dating, and in 1989 they tied the knot. They have one daughter together.
Chris Hemsworth’s career skyrocketed after he took on the superhero role of “Thor” in 2011. Since that time, he’s played an essential role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, appearing in numerous Marvel films.
Recently, the 39-year-old actor learned that he inherited two copies of the APOE4 gene (one each from his mother and his father), which showed he was at greater risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease than others.
Reports then surfaced that a source close to the Marvel star said after he completes a few current projects — he plans to step away from Hollywood to spend more time with his family while his kids are young.
In a Vanity Fair interview published in November, Hemsworth said learning that he had a higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s really hit him as he faced his own “mortality.”
“It really triggered something in me to want to take some time off,” the actor said. “And since we finished the show, I’ve been completing the things I was already contracted to do. Now when I finish this tour this week, I’m going home and I’m going to have a good chunk of time off and just simplify. Be with the kids, be with my wife.”
In June, the “Thor: Ragnarok” star clarified the Vanity Fair comments about taking a break and said that he wanted to take time off because he’s “been working for 10 years, and I’ve got three kids that I want to spend more time with.”
“I’ve been running from project to project for a long time, just to avoid being unemployed or that fear that it’s the last job you’ll get, you know?” Hemsworth said. “I want to be more curated about the choices I make, things I immerse myself in or I’m involved in. I want to have greater value and work with great people.”
Hemsworth married actress Elsa Pataky in 2010 and the couple share three kids together.
Another star connected to the Marvel Cinematic Universe is Tom Holland, a 27-year-old actor who recently announced he’s taking a break from the spotlight after executive producing the new Apple TV+ thriller “The Crowded Room.”
Holland said the series, which deals with mental health issues, was “a tough time for sure” as he took on the role of Danny Sullivan, a young man arrested for a shocking crime in 1979. The series is based on the real-life story of Billy Milligan, who was diagnosed with multiple personality disorder.
Tom Holland breaks free.
After six stints as Spidey and eager for post-superhero adventures, #TheCrowdedRoom star opens up about the pressures of mega-celebrity, life with Zendaya and his group chat with Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield: https://t.co/qLFCgO4THA pic.twitter.com/zugVj9vyri
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) June 14, 2023
“We were exploring certain emotions that I have definitely never experienced before,” the “Spider-Man” star told Extra. “And then on top of that, being a producer, dealing with the day-to-day problems that come with any film set, just added that extra level of pressure, but I really enjoyed it…”
“But then again, the show did break me,” he added. “There did come a time where I was sort of like, ‘I need to have a break.’ I disappeared. I went to Mexico for a week and had some time on a beach and lay low. And I’m now taking a year off, and that is a result of how difficult this show was.”
“I’ve been seeing my family. I’ve been seeing my friends. I’ve been playing golf,” Holland continued. “I’ve been going to the garden center and buying plants and doing my best to keep them alive and all that sort of stuff. I’ve just been trying to be (a) regular bloke from Kingston and just relax.”
In 2021, the “Spider-Man: Far From Home” star said he was looking forward to taking a break from acting to start a family.
“I’ve spent the last six years being so focused on my career,” Holland told People magazine. “I want to take a break and focus on starting a family and figuring out what I want to do outside of this world.”
At the time, Holland was dating his co-star in the Marvel films, actress Zendaya. The pair are rumored to be dating for years but it is unclear how long. As of June 2023, the Hollywood couple is still believed to be together.
Related: “Hollywood Is Not America.” Why So Many Celebrities Are Leaving Los Angeles