Cameron endeared herself to audiences by playing child-free women in comedies like The Mask, My Best Friend's Wedding, and There's Something About Mary. She had no children herself when she was working on any of the 40-plus movies she has appeared in, and becoming a mother has made the long hours that she once spent on set seem too difficult to endure. 

"I couldn't imagine being a mom now where I'm at as a mother with my child at her first year to have to be on a movie set that takes 14 hours, 16 hours of my day away from my child," Cameron said. 

Cameron became a first-time mother when she and her husband, Good Charlotte band member Benji Madden, welcomed their daughter Raddix in December 2019. She was 47 years old at the time, and she has no regrets about waiting so long to start a family. 

"I just couldn't ... I wouldn't have been the mom that I am now had I chosen to do that at any other time in my life," she said. "I feel for so many mothers who can't, that have to go to work, you know, whatever they're doing."

Cameron seemed to credit her successful career as a highly-paid actress for giving her the freedom to stop working and completely shift her focus to raising her daughter. She described her somewhat unique position as "completely privileged," and she stated that she's "really, really grateful" for it. 

During a 2014 Esquire interview, Cameron made it seem evident that kids were not in the cards for her, saying that she "was never drawn to being a mother." She spoke about how much of a responsibility raising a child is, and she stated that her decision not to have a baby while she was working made things "easier" for her. 

Now, she's singing a much different tune. During her recent podcast interview, she described motherhood as the "most fulfilling part" of her life so far.

Cameron didn't state that she's retiring from acting forever, instead saying "never say never" when it comes to the possibility of signing on for a future project. However, it would likely have to be something really tempting for her to return to a job that she didn't always enjoy. During a 2020 interview with Gwyneth Paltrow, Cameron opened up about how uncomfortable it made her feel to have people doing things for her all the time on set. 

“Actors are infantilized,” she said, per Vanity Fair. “We’re put in a position where everything is taken care of for us."  

Cameron stated that she initially decided to stop acting so that she could prove to herself that she "knew how to be an adult," but now she's doing so much more than that.