Actor Matthew Fox has revealed why he stepped away from Hollywood at the height of his fame.
Fox, 59, is best known for playing Dr. Jack Shephard on Lost and Charlie Salinger in Party of Five. After Lost finished in 2010 Fox scaled back his work until 2021 to spend time with his wife and their two children.
“I felt like it was time to engage really intensely with my family,” Fox said on Monday. “I had missed some of their childhood because I was on set all the time with Lost and doing films and promoting everything. It was the right moment for me to step back.”
Fox was speaking at the premiere of his new series The Madison, from Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan. Fox stars alongside Michelle Pfeiffer, Kurt Russell, and Patrick J. Adams. He plays Paul Clyburn, the brother of Russell’s character in the Neo-Western airing on Paramount + from March 14.
“I kinda missed storytelling,” Fox told Variety. “And this opportunity came along from Taylor, and I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m in.’”
During Fox’s hiatus in 2012, he denied claims from his Lost co-star Dominic Monaghan that he “beats women.” In May of the same year, Fox was arrested near his home in Oregon for driving under the influence.
That year, he told Men’s Fitness magazine, “In the 46 years I’ve been breathing on this planet, I have never hit a woman before. Never have, never will... the only thing that’s true is that I was arrested for a DUI.”
