{"id":841508,"date":"2026-08-03T09:06:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T09:06:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/841508\/"},"modified":"2026-08-03T09:06:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T09:06:12","slug":"stephen-baldwin-finally-explains-why-he-left-hollywood-for-20-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/841508\/","title":{"rendered":"Stephen Baldwin finally explains why he \u2018left Hollywood\u2019 for 20 years"},"content":{"rendered":"

Stephen Baldwin<\/a> has revealed the truth as to why he \u201cleft Hollywood<\/a>\u201d in the early 2000s at the height of his career.<\/p>\n

The 60-year-old actor, explained he stepped away from the spotlight shortly after starring in Oscar<\/a>-winning thriller The Usual Suspects (1995), right as he was \u201cbecoming a big star\u201d. <\/p>\n

\"EAST<\/p>\n

Stephen (right), pictured with Alec Baldwin, is the youngest of the Baldwin brothers. \u00a0Getty<\/p>\n

\u201cBut that wasn\u2019t me,\u201d the youngest Baldwin brother told PEOPLE<\/a> in an interview on Sunday. <\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t want to be Tom Cruise<\/a>, and have to make $100 million at the box office. I\u2019d rather be a schmuck from Massapequa [New York].\u201d <\/p>\n

The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas actor, father to model Hailey Bieber<\/a>, explained it was a conscious choice rather than the lack of box-office offers.<\/p>\n

Instead, he chose faith over fame. <\/p>\n

As Baldwin reflected on the decision, after the birth of his first daughter Alaia, he explained the moment he knew. <\/p>\n

He revealed their housekeeper and helper at the time \u201chad a prophetic vision\u201d \u00a0the family would \u201cbecome born-again Christians\u201d and have their own ministry.<\/p>\n

The actor said it sounded \u201cabsurd\u201d at first, but it wasn\u2019t until daughter Hailey was born, and they moved back to New York, a skateboarding ministry opened his eyes. <\/p>\n

\"Hailey<\/p>\n

Stephen Baldwin pictured with youngest daughter Hailey Bieber in 2011. \u00a0Getty<\/p>\n

In 2004, the actor produced a Christian-themed skateboarding DVD that blended his faith with skate culture. He distributed 10,000 copies in the first six months. <\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the bigger churches called and asked what it would cost to bring the skaters from the video to their church for a live event. So that\u2019s when I left Hollywood,\u201d he told to the publication. <\/p>\n

The actor has since embraced his faith and spent the next two decades focused on ministry, youth outreach and producing Christian films on top of hosting duties for his One Bad Movie podcast. <\/p>\n

With life away from the spotlight, Baldwin admitted he \u201cno longer craves mainstream fame\u201d the way he used to. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve made more money that I could have wildly imagined, and I\u2019m married to the hottest chick I\u2019ve ever seen in my life,\u201d he told the outlet as he reflected on his \u201cblessed\u201d life. <\/p>\n

\"Justin<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, daughter Hailey Bieber and husband Justin Bieber, live life in the public eye.\u00a0Getty<\/p>\n

The Bio-Dome actor is married to wife Kennya Baldwin, of 34 years. <\/p>\n

He is also a grandfather to Iris, daughter of Alaia and her husband, and to Jack, almost two, who Hailey shares with husband Justin Bieber<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Stephen Baldwin has revealed the truth as to why he \u201cleft Hollywood\u201d in the early 2000s at the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":841509,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[64,63,447,134],"class_list":["post-841508","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841508","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=841508"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841508\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/841509"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=841508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=841508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=841508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}