Elisha Cuthbert has revealed why he took a four-year hiatus from Hollywood as he returns to the spotlight.
The Girl Next Door star, 43, said she put acting on hold to spend more time with her children and husband, former NHL star Dion Phaneuf, before returning in Prime Video’s new series Every Year After.
Cuthbert appeared on NBC’s “Today” on Tuesday and said, “I realized that I had been working all four years before having my first child, and it was really hard.”
“To separate the mother from me working. So when I gave birth to my second child, I didn’t want to waste even a second, and I didn’t want to be on set.”
“I felt like I needed to be home with my kids and I enjoyed every moment,” she added.
Cuthbert’s role in Every Year After will be his first major acting project in four years, since the 2022 crime film Bandit, in which he co-starred with Mel Gibson.
The Canadian, who began her career as a child model before making her acting debut at the age of 13, rose to fame in the early 2000s with a string of TV and film roles, including fan-favorite comedies The Girl Next Door and Old School, as well as the hit drama 24.
Her last major role was on the Netflix sitcom The Ranch, which ran for four seasons and ended in 2020, but Cuthbert only played a few small roles after the series ended.
Now that her children – daughter Zafir, born in 2017, and son Fable, born in 2022 – are older, Cuthbert said she feels ready to get back to work.
“They’re in school full-time now,” she explained on “Today.” “I feel like I have the space, energy and heart to leave them and do it.”
Cuthbert also reflected on the pressure that came with fame at the height of his career in the 2000s and said he was glad Every Year After star Sadie Soveol, 24, didn’t have to go through the same thing.
“It was a lot of pressure,” she said. “Sadie Sobeor, it’s great that she’s in a time now where she doesn’t have to worry about those things. It’s very different now.”
Cuthbert plays Sue, the mother of Sam (Matt Cornett) and Charlie (Michael Bradway), in the coming-of-age drama based on Carly Fortune’s best-selling novel.
The actress admitted that she didn’t know much about Fortune’s books before joining the project.
“It’s crazy because I didn’t read any of Carly’s books and then I went on the show,” she said. “Of course I had the script, but I wanted to read the novel. And I thought, ‘Oh, I’m already a huge fan.'”
“So I’ve read all of her books. They’re all great. I recommend them,” she added.
