Holly Marie Combs is opening up about her decision to walk away from the acting world.
“It was a lot of family. During COVID, we had three teenagers,” Combs, 52, said on the Tuesday, August 25, episode of her “House of Halliwell” podcast, stating that she is “retired” from acting. “Well, it was three teenagers and a preteen in the house, and it was just mayhem and chaos.”
Combs, who notably starred as Piper Halliwell on The WB’s Charmed, shares her three sons with ex-husband David Donoho. (Combs has been married to husband Mike Ryan since 2019.)
In addition to prioritizing her family and multiple business ventures, Combs also admitted that she was far from impressed from the scripts sent her way.
“The stuff that I was getting and coming across my desk was just nothing that I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is really great. I need to do this,’” the Pretty Little Liars alum claimed. “And being in, you know, that 40 to 50 [age] range, the job pool gets even smaller and smaller. I feel like the roles get a little less interesting.”
Even so, Combs hasn’t ruled out a potential return to Hollywood down the line.
“I miss it occasionally because … there’s those moments when you’re involved and you’re acting and you’re working that are just, I think it’s like being present,” she said. “That’s what escapism is, and we get to escape into this different character with a different set of situations than our own life. There is something about being in that moment that is quite peaceful, even if you’re doing something highly dramatic.”
Combs went on to add that she would only “consider” a potential return to acting after her youngest sons fly the nest.
“My two youngest are still in high school, [and] I think once Kelley has graduated successfully, I might consider it,” she quipped, referring to her 17-year-old son. “Obviously, I’ll be sitting around with a lot more time on my hands ‘cause Kelley is determined to join the military like his [older] brother did, so he’s flying right out that door.”
In the meantime, Combs hinted that podcast guest Scout Taylor-Compton has already been “trying” to pull the actress out of retirement.
Halloween star Taylor-Compton, 37, meanwhile noted that she would only enlist Combs for a truly “epic” project.
“There’s something that I’m working hard on right now, but I would only pull you out of retirement if it was, like, ‘This is going to be epic and worth it,’” Taylor-Compton noted. “Never gonna pull you out, like, ‘Whatever, maybe.’”
