Elisha Cuthbert has ended a four-year acting hiatus and is opening up about why she chose to step away from the screen entirely after the birth of her second child.
The actress, best known for her roles in 24, Happy Endings and The girl next doorhas returned with a role in Prime Video’s romantic drama series Every year afterall eight episodes of which are now available to stream.
She plays Sue Florek in the series, based on Carley Fortunes Every summer after books.
Talking further TodayCuthbert explained that the decision to take time off was a deeply personal one rooted in her experience of balancing motherhood and work.
“I think after we had our second, I realized because I had worked through the first four years of our first child, it was really hard to separate that mom from the working person that I was,” she said.
“So when we had our second, I just felt like I didn’t want to waste a second of it and I didn’t want to be on set.”
She described the break as something she actively embraced rather than simply falling into.
“I just felt like I should be home with the kids and I enjoyed every minute,” she said.
The decision to return was equally conscious, prompted by a shift in her family’s circumstances.
“Now that they’re in school now full-time, I feel like I have the space and the energy and the heart to leave them and do that.”
Every year afterdeveloped for television by Amy B. Harris and Leila Gerstein, follows Percy and Sam, played by Sadie Soverall and Matt Cornett, as two lifelong friends who reconsider whether their first love was always meant to be something more.
Cuthbert’s last screen appearances before the hiatus were in the 2022s The basement and Bandit. Her return marks her first project since then, and by the sounds of it, the timing feels just right.
