--- title: Michelle Pfeiffer Explains Why She Took a Hiatus description: Find out what Michelle Pfeiffer told Darren Aronofsky in 'Interview' about why she took a years-long hiatus from Hollywood. canonical: https://time.com/4717260/michelle-pfeiffer-hiatus/ author: Kate Dwyer article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-03-29T21:08:56.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:05:18.173Z og:title: Michelle Pfeiffer Explains Why She Took Time Off From Hollywood og:description: 'I got so picky that I was unhirable' og:url: https://time.com/4717260/michelle-pfeiffer-hiatus/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3fcfe0a8e65fc1e9/6988c07abc6cfcf44e3e0af1/michelle-pfeiffer.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: 'La Cite Du Cinema' Launch - Red Carpet og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Michelle Pfeiffer Explains Why She Took Time Off From Hollywood twitter:description: 'I got so picky that I was unhirable' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3fcfe0a8e65fc1e9/6988c07abc6cfcf44e3e0af1/michelle-pfeiffer.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Michelle Pfeiffer Explains Why She Took Time Off From Hollywood > Sponsored content. 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Worth Your Time is TIME's culture recommendation newsletter, edited by culture editor Eliza Berman. Each week it surfaces the books, shows, films and ideas TIME's editors think are worth your attention, and explains why. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Does TIME have a culture newsletter? Yes. Worth Your Time is TIME's culture newsletter, published weekly. #### Who writes TIME's culture recommendations? Culture editor Eliza Berman writes Worth Your Time, drawing on TIME's critics and culture desk. #### Is Worth Your Time free? Yes. It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-worth-2026q3/newsletters?i=bf590df5-4eff-490a-b9ed-52b592d5d655&cr=time-nl-worth-2026q3-v1) by [Kate Dwyer](https://time.com/author/kate-dwyer/) ## Kate Dwyer Mar 29, 2017 9:08 PM UTC  SAINT-DENIS, FRANCE - SEPTEMBER 21: Actress Michelle Pfeiffer attends 'La Cite Du Cinema' Launch on September 21, 2012 in Saint-Denis, France. (Photo by Francois G. Durand/Getty Images) SAINT-DENIS, FRANCE - SEPTEMBER 21: Actress Michelle Pfeiffer attends 'La Cite Du Cinema' Launch on September 21, 2012 in Saint-Denis, France. (Photo by Francois G. Durand/Getty Images) Francois G. Durand—Getty Images by [Kate Dwyer](https://time.com/author/kate-dwyer/) ## Kate Dwyer Mar 29, 2017 9:08 PM UTC In a new [cover story](http://www.interviewmagazine.com/film/michelle-pfeiffer/#%5F) for _Interview,_ Michelle Pfeiffer spoke with director Darren Aronofsky about her career beginnings, [self-doubt](http://motto.time.com/4260364/imposter-syndrome-youre-not-crazy/) and why she took a break from acting. Unlike some of her peers who started acting as children, the three-time Oscar nominee waited until after high school to pursue the craft. Aside from a few workshops and a high school drama class, she didn’t have any formal training. “I didn’t come from Juilliard. I was just getting by and learning in front of the world,” she told Aronofsky, who directed her upcoming film, _Mother!_ “So I’ve always had this feeling that one day they’re going to find out that I’m really a fraud, that I really don’t know what I’m doing.” That anxiety has persisted: She revealed that one of her fears while working on Kenneth Branagh’s adaptation of Agatha Christie’s [_Murder on the Orient Express_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3402236/)_,_ due this year, was that she was “ruining” it. It’s a big year for Pfeiffer. Her HBO movie _The_ _Wizard of Lies_ _,_ in which she plays Bernie Madoff’s wife Ruth Madoff, will be released in May. [_Mother_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5109784/?ref%5F=nm%5Fflmg%5Fprd%5F2)_!_ hits theaters in October, and _Murder on the Orient Express_ comes out in November. But 2017 also marks her return to the screen after a years-long hiatus — her last film came out in 2013\. She explained that the break was partially self-imposed, because she previously built her film schedule around her kids. “I was pretty careful about where I shot, how long I was away, whether or not it worked out with the kids’ schedule. And I got so picky that I was unhirable,” she said. Now, she’s an empty nester. “I’m a more balanced person honestly when I’m working,” she said. “I really want to work now, because I can.” Read the rest of Pfeiffer’s cover story at [_Interview_](http://www.interviewmagazine.com/film/michelle-pfeiffer/#%5F)_._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4717260/michelle-pfeiffer-hiatus/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4717260/michelle-pfeiffer-hiatus/"},"headline":"Michelle Pfeiffer Explains Why She Took Time Off From Hollywood","datePublished":"2017-03-29T21:08:56.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:05:18.173Z","description":"'I got so picky that I was unhirable'","url":"https://time.com/4717260/michelle-pfeiffer-hiatus/","keywords":["motto"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3fcfe0a8e65fc1e9/6988c07abc6cfcf44e3e0af1/michelle-pfeiffer.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kate Dwyer","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/kate-dwyer/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3fcfe0a8e65fc1e9/6988c07abc6cfcf44e3e0af1/michelle-pfeiffer.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"'La Cite Du Cinema' Launch - Red Carpet","caption":"'La Cite Du Cinema' Launch - Red Carpet","creditText":"Francois G. 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