14 Celebrities Who Put Their Careers on the Sidelines for Their Families

There are stars that can combine the role of parents with their careers, and even after having a baby, they keep going. But other stars are afraid of missing such important moment as their baby’s first steps or words, so they set priorities differently. Some leave the show business forever, others take a temporary break, and some push their work on the sidelines, making time for their families.

We at CHEERY wanted to find out which celebrities always put their families first, no matter how much they love their careers.

Elizabeth Hurley

In 2002, the actress had her son, Damian, and paused her career. She explained, “I was 36 and had been worrying about myself for quite long enough. I stopped doing movies and TV for the first 8 years of his life, and I don’t regret it for a moment. I always put him first.”

Alyssa Milano

In 2014, after 2 successful seasons, the star left the series Mistresses, which was a blow for the fans. It happened several weeks after she had her second child, daughter Elizabella. The actress commented on her decision, “I have two babies under 4. Being a mother and wife comes first, and I just cannot uproot my children and separate the family by moving away.”

Since then, she has appeared in movies and tv-projects, but her family always comes first.

Melissa Joan Hart

Clarissa, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Drive Me Crazy: in the 1990s, and the beginning of the 2000s, the face of the actress was constantly on the TV screen. But soon, Hart disappeared, even though she was still doing some projects from time to time. She made the decision to put her career on the sidelines voluntarily and focus on her personal life and motherhood.

Katie Holmes

After she had a daughter, Suri, her career was no longer a priority. Holmes shared, “My child is the most important person to me, and her upbringing is paramount to my work right now. I feel so blessed to do what I do, but there’s nothing in the world better than watching your child succeed.”

The actress also said that she preferred creating movies as a director or a writer, because she could make her own hours.

Jamie Lynn Spears

There was a time when the younger sister of the pop-star was making her own steps in the show business and wanted to be successful like Britney. But she got pregnant when she was 16, and she had to make a change.

The star explained her decision, “I put myself in an adult situation, so I needed to handle it like an adult. I didn’t feel sorry for myself, I didn’t have any pity for myself; I brought this little girl into this world, and it’s my job to make sure that she has the best life that she possibly can have — no one else’s.” In 2014, she released her debut album “The Journey”, and decided to focus on her family.

Alicia Silverstone

When the actress found out she was pregnant, her career was no longer the priority. The way she raises her son Bear is quite controversial. The star said that she still sleeps in the same bed with the 11-year-old boy, and they even bathe together. And Bear definitely has enough attention from his mother. The actress says, “One of the greatest and most rewarding things in my life has been being a mom to Bear.”

Jenna Fischer

The actress’ pregnancy was at the same time when she was doing the iconic The Office. She played one of the lead characters, Pam. The writers decided to implement it into the story, but after the final season aired, Fischer fully concentrated on her family and kids.

She explained, “I’m taking a good amount of time off right now to be a mom and grow my family, so I’m really just looking forward to getting to do that.” Since 2013, she’s only appeared in some episodes and supporting roles.

Lauryn Hill

When in the 1990s, The Fugees was an incredibly successful band, the singer decided to get out of the game and focus on herself and her family. She shared in one of the interviews, “I love music, and I always put my 100% into making music, but now I have to put 200% into being a mother.”

Since then, she’s released solo albums, but her family and 6 children have always been her focus.

Candace Cameron Bure

In between the filming of the iconic sitcom Full House and its reboot, the star was mainly focused on her family. She explained her choice in one of the episodes of The Paula Paris Podcast in 2021, “I wanted to keep working when I was just coming off of Full House and I wanted to have a family as well. And I realized very quickly that I could not do both with the excellence that I wanted to, so one of them had to be put on pause. And that was an easy choice.”

Lisa Bonet

In 1988, Bonet was pregnant with Zoë Kravitz, so she had to leave the show A Different World, the spin-off of The Cosby Show. Since then, her career has been in a decline. She’s appeared in some series and movies, but devoted most of her time to her family. In a relationship with Jason Momoa, she had 2 more children.

Chris O’Donnell

After Chris O’Donnell portrayed Robin, the partner of Batman, his acting career was gaining momentum very quickly. This is why a lot of people were surprised when he decided to step aside and focus on his family, “I was being offered these huge films that would have taken my career to a different level, and I decided to put on the brakes. I knew if I continued on that track, I probably wouldn’t have gotten married.”

He has 5 children. The last time he was in a movie was back in 2010.

Elsa Pataky

While her husband Chris Hemsworth continues to appear in movies, the model and actress decided to spend most of her time raising their 3 children. She shared, “My goal was always, when I have kids, to live in a place far from the city. I want them to grow up in nature, because I crave that. But that step did take me away from one of my big passions in life: acting, and it was a big change. But I changed my life into being a mum, which I think is just the most amazing thing in the world.”

Monica Cruz

The younger sister of Penélope Cruz was actively starring in films, but after she had her daughter Antonella, conceived via artificial insemination, she decided to focus on her family. She said, “I think [becoming a mother] is the most important decision of a woman’s life.”

Rhea Wahlberg

Before she married Mark Wahlberg, Rhea Durham was a model, and her career was booming: she worked with Vogue, Marie Claire, Victoria’s Secret. But after she had kids, she decided to stop her career and focus on being a mother.

She shared, “I stopped modelling after my son, Michael, was born in order to stay at home with the kids. I still do that now. I’m a stay-at-home mom.”

Meg Ryan

In the 1980s and the 1990s, there were many successful movies with Ryan: Sleepless in Seattle, You’ve Got Mail, When Harry Met Sally. But in the next decade, Ryan’s career started to decline.

She commented on her decision to focus on her family, “Most of all, what I’m ambitious for in the 12 hours a day that I’m awake is my kids’ happiness. I just am. I’m either figuring out how to provide for them, figuring out how to say it right, figuring out all those mom things. I want them to be happy. And today I’m happy too.”

What would you do: choose a promising career or family?