Anna Faris Nearly Quit Acting After Leaving Sitcom 'Mom' : 'Do I Have Enough to Retire?'

Mar. 15, 2025

Photo: Victor Chavez/Getty

Anna Fariscame close to leaving Hollywood in the rearview mirror.

In this week’s issue of PEOPLE, the star of the new movieThe Estatesays she contemplated retiring after sheleft the hit CBS sitcomMomin 2020. Faris, 45, played recovering alcoholic Christy Plunkett on creatorChuck Lorre’s show for seven seasons starting in 2013.

Stepping away from that was a relief — so much, in fact, that Faris contemplated walking away from her career entirely: “I was like, ‘Do I have enough [money] to retire?'”

Rather than do that, Faris simply decided to slow down and reevaluate. “I really started to think about where I wanted to go in terms of career,” she continues. “And I definitely was enjoying all that free time.”

Monty Brinton/CBS via Getty

Faris and cinematographerMichael Barrett, 52, eloped last summer, and she spent more time with family — includingJack, the 10-year-old son she shares with ex-husbandChris Prattand Barrett’s two children from a previous marriage — before turning back to acting earlier this year.

“ForThe Estateto come along, it felt like Cinderella’s shoe a little bit in terms of a job. We got to shoot in New Orleans, a city that I love, with this incredible cast. And we got to play. It reminded me of my love for performing,” she says.

The Estateis a very adult comedy about scheming sisters Savanna (Faris) and Macey (Toni Collette) competing with their cousins (David DuchovnyandRosemarie DeWitt) in a quest to worm their way into the will of their mean, terminally ill aunt Hilda (Kathleen Turner).

After her many turns portraying sweet, bubbly blondes in fan favorites like 2008’sThe House Bunny, “there’s such liberation in getting to play kind of atrocious people,” says Faris.“The emphasis for so much of my career felt like the likability factor: ‘Is she likable?’ That always felt like the mantra. So I had a blast playing Savanna. It nurtured something in me.”

Working with Collette was a draw, too. “It was such a dream to work with Toni, and a lifelong goal,” says Faris. “So when the script came in and Toni was attached, I was like, how can I be a part of this? How can I be a part of this?”

Her experience on the movie was “refreshing” she says. “OnMom, which was really rewarding in a very different way, everything is very precise. Sitcoms are incredibly surgical, and there’s not room for that kind of play. Everything is very choreographed. The dialogue is incredibly precise. And so from my first project out from that experience, to me it felt just completely rejuvenating. It made me really excited, and I hadn’t felt that way in a while.”

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The Estatepremieres in theaters Nov. 4.

source: people.com