Jack Nicholson was one of the biggest stars in Hollywood for decades, headlining movies like Chinatown, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and The Departed — and then, just like that, he largely disappeared from the public eye.
But it isn’t any big conspiracy: the Something’s Gotta Give actor had decided it was time to retire not just from acting, but from the rigors of public life.
It’s a different case for Phil Collins, who retreated from the spotlight following complications from a 2007 spinal injury. The need for a 24-hour live-in nurse has kept the “In the Air Tonight” rocker from both performing and being seen out and about.
But there are many reasons why certain celebs just aren’t seen in public much, from the siren song of an early retirement to the demands of parenthood to a desire for privacy (and the ability to dodge cameras like a ninja).
Keep reading for our full list of notable celebrities who are rarely seen in public.
Phil Collins
Phil Collins
Credit: Gina Wetzler/Redferns
Collins has suffered from a number of health issues over the past thirty years that have forced him to scale back from the public eye. In 2007, the former Genesis frontman developed health complications following spinal surgery. The result was severe damage to his nerves and issues with the vertebrae in his upper neck, all compounded by the development of “drop foot” following back surgery, which has made it hard for him to walk.
Due to his deteriorating health, Collins has found it increasingly difficult to play music, something he’s still struggling to come to terms with. “It’s an ongoing thing,” he admitted on BBC’s Eras podcast.
However, Collins was spotted recently with ex-wife Jill Collins in London, where he attended The King’s Trust 50th anniversary celebration at Buckingham Palace alongside Rod Stewart.
Collins will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this November. It’s unknown whether he’ll be able to attend.
Daniel Day-Lewis
Daniel Day-Lewis attends the ‘Anemone’ red carpet on October 17, 2025, in Rome
Credit: Maria Moratti/Getty
The There Will Be Blood star has always been a private sort, mostly steering clear from press junkets and revealing very few details about his personal life across his four-decade career. He himself has called his aversion to fame “a lifelong study in evasion.”
But when he’s not method acting, Daniel Day-Lewis is spending his time with his kids and his wife, filmmaker Rebecca Miller, relishing in a life away from Hollywood while bouncing between his homes in New York City and Ireland.
In 2017, Day-Lewis obscured his life even further when he announced that he was retiring from acting for good (he’s made the claim before, granted) following his performance in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Phantom Thread. While this period made a rare Day-Lewis sighting all the more thrilling, it turns out he can’t quite seem to resist his life’s trade: he emerged from retirement in 2025 to star in his son Ronan’s film, Anemone.
Eva Mendes
Eva Mendes at The Palace Theatre on Sept. 13, 2018, in Los Angeles
Credit: Donato Sardella/Getty
Eva Mendes broke out as an actress in 2001’s Training Day, and went on to star in blockbusters like 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003) and indies such as The Place Beyond the Pines (2012) and Holy Motors (2012).
However, after starring alongside Ryan Gosling in 2012’s Pines, Mendes and Gosling began a lasting romance that has been defined by their shared commitment to privacy. “I have always had a clear boundary when it comes to my man and my kids,” Mendes explained in a 2020 Instagram post, responding to a fan who wondered why she didn’t post photos of the two children she shares with Gosling — Esmeralda and Amada.
Until recently, Mendes and Gosling hadn’t intentionally been in front of a camera together since 2013. In March, however, Gosling brought her out on The Tonight Show as a surprise for her 52nd birthday.
Phoebe Cates
Phoebe Cates
Credit: Vinnie Zuffante/Getty
Phoebe Cates made her mark as a young actor in ‘80s Hollywood, emerging as a familiar face in flicks like Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) and Gremlins (1984). She has not appeared onscreen since 2001 and has remained largely out of the public eye since then.
Ultimately, she decided to ditch the glitz and glamor of Hollywood in favor of raising her family. Cates is married to veteran actor Kevin Kline, and together they share two children: Greta, a musician who performs under the name Frankie Cosmos, and Owen, a filmmaker who made his directorial debut with 2022’s Funny Pages.
While Kline is still a working actor, he credits the longevity of his marriage to Cates on their decision to live in New York City instead of Hollywood, which he explained to PEOPLE in 2024. “If your marriage lasts more than six months, you’re already in the Guinness Book of World Records, if you’re a Hollywood marriage,” Kline joked.
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Cates may be rarely seen in public (save for occasionally accompanying Kline on a red carpet), but she isn’t a housewife: she stays busy owning and operating her own boutique, Blue Tree, on Madison Avenue in Manhattan.
Terrence Malick
Terrence Malick
Credit: Michael Buckner/Variety/Penske Media via Getty
Terrence Malick is possibly the most elusive man in Hollywood, while simultaneously being a revered and Oscar-nominated director with the kind of prestige that draws names like Brad Pitt, Christian Bale, Natalie Portman, and Michael Fassbender to star in his projects.
After drawing acclaim in the ‘70s with the neo-noir road film Badlands, Malick has become notorious not just for his proficiency at dodging any and all cameras, but also his lengthy post-production processes and penchant for chopping out actors from his movies at a whim (famously, Adrien Brody in The Thin Red Line).
He also rarely grants interviews, and there are limited photos of him in circulation, although, hilariously, TMZ did manage to accidentally capture video of him while interviewing Benicio del Toro in 2012. Maybe it’s less a distaste for fame and more that he’s stuck for so long in the editing booth — his upcoming film, The Way of the Wind, has been in post-production for the past seven years.
Jack Nicholson
Jack Nicholson
Credit: MUNAWAR HOSAIN / FOTOS INTERNATIONAL / GETTY
Though Jack Nicholson has never officially announced his retirement, the A-lister seems to have tapped out of acting after 2010’s How Do You Know. Since then, Nicholson has been fairly reclusive and hasn’t been spotted on any red carpets, though you can sometimes catch him courtside at Lakers games.
While there’s been some speculation about his health over the years, his longtime pale Danny DeVito put those rumors to rest publicly in an interview with PEOPLE in 2025. DeVito explained that Nicholson — then 88 — was doing “great.”
Most recently, a photo of Nicholson indeed looking great and celebrating his 89th birthday alongside legendary singer Joni Mitchell made the rounds after his daughter, Lorraine, posted it to her Instagram in April
The photo, which shows Nicholson and Mitchell smiling and clapping together, is captioned simply: “¡¡ 89 !!”
Rick Moranis
Rick Moranis in Chicago on Aug. 17, 1983
Credit: Paul Natkin/Getty
In the 1980s, Rick Moranis was a comedy juggernaut, fronting classics like Ghostbusters, Little Shop of Horrors, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, and Spaceballs. But for the past 30 years, Moranis has been absent from not just the public eye but from Hollywood entirely — save for some voice roles and TV spots.
The reason for Moranis’ privacy is a tragic one: In 1991, his wife, costume designer Ann Belsky, died of breast cancer. While he tried to maintain his career over the next few years, he eventually realized that it was too much and made the hard choice to step away.
“I pulled out of making movies in about ’96 or ’97. I’m a single parent, and I just found that it was too difficult to manage raising my kids and doing the traveling involved in making movies. So I took a little bit of a break. And the little bit of a break turned into a longer break, and then I found that I really didn’t miss it,” he explained to USA Today in 2005.
However, it looks like Moranis is about to make a grand return from his retirement. After reemerging in a phone commercial in 2020, it’s been confirmed that he will return to the big screen in the forthcoming Spaceballs sequel.
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