These Celebrity Dads Paused Their Careers to Stay Home With Their Kids
Being a stay-at-home parent is a full-time job in and of itself and mothers aren’t the only ones that do it.
Plenty of A-list fathers have put their careers on hold to help raise their children, either so their wives’ careers could flourish or to capitalize on precious family moments. In 2021, Ryan Reynolds launched an acting “sabbatical” to focus on his three daughters whom he shares wife Blake Lively (“I love doing drop-offs, pickups — that’s my thing” the Red Notice star said of his children’s school schedules) and in 2019, Maroon Five rocker Adam Levine stepped down from his role on the television singing competition The Voice to spend more time with his kids.
“Now I’m just, like, a stay-at-home dad,” Levine told Ellen DeGeneres in 2019 about his career decision. “I just stay home and do very little. It’s great.” Levine shares two daughters Gio Grace, 3, and Dusty Rose, 4, with his supermodel wife Behati Prinsloo.
Of course, being a stay-at-home dad isn’t without its struggles — just ask any parent enmeshed in the daily antics involved in child rearing. Although most primary caregivers are moms, the number of fathers stepping into this role has increased since 1989, according to data from the Pew Research Center; an estimated 2.1 million fathers were stay-at-home dads in 2021. And SAHDs experience their fair share of challenges such as emotional isolation or judgment and assumptions, echoing the feelings of many women who stay at home to raise their kids.
We’ve rounded up a list of celebrity dads who became stay-at-home parents (and here’s a list of famous moms who did the same) for a moment in time.
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Daniel Radcliffe
Daniel Radcliffe and his girlfriend Erin Darke welcomed a little wizard of their own in the spring of 2023, and the Harry Potter alum told Entertainment Tonight it’s “a privilege” to have time off with his son.
“I was always going to take some time off, which not everyone is able to do,” Radcliffe said, acknowledging a truth every parent has to grapple with, “and so I’m able to kind of just be here with him a lot, which is lovely.”
While a full stop doesn’t seem to be in Radcliffe’s future, he said being a dad will “certainly” impact the roles and projects he chooses in the future.
“I think I’m gonna miss him when I go back to work later in the year,” the new dad said. “So, I will definitely be I think a bit more selective — not more selective, I’ve always been selective, but I think I’ll probably work a little bit less for the next few years.”
Chris Hemsworth
After much talk about Chris Hemsworth stepping back from Hollywood because he found out he is predisposed to Alzheimer’s disease, he told Entertainment Tonight that he was leaving to be with his family.
“I wanted to take off because I’ve been working for 10 years, and I’ve got three kids who I want to spend more time with,” he said.
Prince Harry
I mean, need we say more? Prince Harry and Meghan Markle famously stepped down as senior members of the royal family in Jan. 2020 to protect their family. Since then, the couple has worked hard to keep Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet out of the limelight.
“We’ve been really conscious of protecting our kids as best as we can and also understanding the role that they play in this really historic family,” Markle said in the couple’s Netflix docuseries.
“As a dad and as parents, I think consent is a really key piece to this,” Prince Harry said. “That if you have children, it should be your consent to what you share.”
Chance the Rapper
After the birth of his second daughter in 2019, Chance the Rapper — who shares Kensli and Marli with wife Kirsten Crley — postponed his tour.
“This year has been one of the greatest of my life; Marriage, new baby, first album etc.” he wrote on Instagram. “But with it being so eventful it has also been very strenuous having to divide my time and energy between family and work. When Kensli was born [in 2015], I went on tour 2 weeks later and missed some of the most important milestones in her life, but more importantly, I was absent when her mother needed me the most. At this point as a husband and father of two I realize that I can’t make that mistake again. I need to be as helpful and available as possible to my wife in these early months…”
Cary Grant
Hollywood royalty Cary Grant became a stay-at-home dad in 1966 when his daughter Jennifer was born. His decision to retire from acting for the sake of his family was so unlike the era when women were expected to take on all the caregiving responsibilities.
“Dad didn’t think acting and having a family went hand in hand,” Jennifer told The Times of her late father.
Ricky Martin
In 2007, Grammy-Award-winning recording artist, Ricky Martin took a break from the music industry for three years. The following year, he welcomed twin boys via surrogate. He then focused solely on his sons before returning to the industry in 2010.
He also shares Lucia (b. 2018) and Renn (b. 2019) with husband Jwan Yosef.
Michael Schoeffling
Actor Michael Schoeffling retired in 1991, so it’s no wonder this photo is from the ’80s. He and his wife Valerie Robinson welcomed son Zand and daughter Scarlett in 1988 and 1991. The Sixteen Candles star then moved his family to Pennsylvania and opened a carpentry and furniture shop.
LeBron James
These days, LeBron James is basking the the glow of being the NBA’s all-time leading scorer and playing alongside his son Bronny — but back in 2014, he was ruffling feathers with his decision to leave the Miami Heat. He had played with the team for four years, but decided to play for the Cleveland Cavaliers in order to focus on being a father and spending as much time as possible with his kids.
Brendon Urie
In late Jan. 2023, Panic at the Disco! frontman Brendon Urie announced on Instagram that he and his wife Sarah were expecting a baby — and that, because of this, he was ending Panic at the Disco! in order to focus on his newest venture: fatherhood.
“The prospect of being a father and getting to watch my wife become a mother is both humbling and exciting,” the singer shared. “I look forward to this next adventure.”
Ryan Phillippe
After his divorce from Reese Witherspoon in 2008, Ryan Phillippe credited their kids, Ava and Deacon, with helping him move past the heartbreak, saying they were the focus of his life. Phillippe told InTouch that he was “going to take a good, long break and be a dad.
“I’m ready to get out of uniform,” he said. “My career always takes a backseat to my kids. Everything else becomes far less important. And I don’t feel like I have to act for the rest of my life.”
Joel Madden
Joel Madden, one of the biggest rock stars of the 2000s, made the decision to step out of the spotlight to focus on his family. The former Good Charlotte frontman shares kids Harlow and Sparrow with wife Nicole Richie.
“They give me a reason to be OK with myself. I don’t feel the need to try and prove to the world that I’m anything at all, other than who I am to them,” Madden said in a 2018 interview with The National. “When I was younger, I think I felt like I needed to constantly sell something. I needed that validation, and that’s what my family gave me. It is the first time I’ve felt good enough.”
David Beckham
When David Beckham retired from soccer in 2013, he embraced his new role at home, caring for his children Brooklyn, Romeo, Cruz, and Harper, whom he shares with Victoria Beckham.
“I’ve been lucky, I’ve always been able to take the boys to school in the mornings and pick them up and make them dinner and things like that,” Beckham told The Jonathan Ross Show that year. “So I do even more of that.”
He added, “I’m able to take all three of the boys to school and then I take Harper to her school for a few hours, and then pick her up. I’m kind of like a driver at the moment, I’m always in the car.”
Brad Pitt
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie filed for divorce in 2016, but a few years prior, Pitt suggested that he was enjoying time as a stay-at-home father to their six children, Zahara, Shiloh, Vivienne, Maddox, Pax, and Knox. “It’s been a family type of year, a down-home type of year,” Pitt told People in 2012. “Mama’s worked more. And quite frankly I’ve really enjoyed it.”
Adam Levine
When Adam Levine [momentarily] stepped down from The Voice in 2019, Maroon Five singer Adam Levine was happy to hang out with his daughters. “I do miss [being on The Voice], but I also don’t miss how much I had to work,” Levine said during an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show that year. “I was just constantly working for so many years — very lucky, very fortunate, very blessed and all that, but [I wanted] to be able to spend time in this moment with my new, young family, and just have the greatest time ever.”
He added, “Now I’m just like a stay-at-home dad. I just stay home and do very little. It’s great.”
Levine shares daughters Gio Grace (b. 2018) and Dusty Rose (b. 2016) with wife Behati Prinsloo. The singer returned to The Voice in 2025.
Ryan Reynolds
Ryan Reynolds’ daughters James, Inez, and Betty, whom he shares with wife Blake Lively, are the driving force behind his decision to take a sabbatical from acting. “The biggest thing for me…is that I don’t want to miss this time with my kids,” Reynolds explained in a December 2021 interview with LinkedIn. “I want my kids to have a pretty normal schedule.”
Reynolds revealed that he and Lively take turns pursuing their professional goals. “For many years when my wife Blake would shoot a film, I would not shoot a film and I would be with the kids and vice versa,” he said. “So we would sort of trade off.”
The Red Notice star noted how much he enjoys being a “present dad” — even when it comes to simple tasks. “Now that they’re in school, they have a somewhat normal schedule,” he said. “I think it’s totally important for their development and I really enjoy being a present dad. I love taking them to school in the morning, I love picking them up.”
Less than two years later, the couple welcomed son Olin.
Dave Chappelle
In 2005, Dave Chappelle famously walked away from a $50 million contract with Comedy Central. “I never stopped being on stage,” Chapelle explained to People in a 2014 interview about his abrupt departure. “What I did was step off of the main stage because those lights were hot, and I was trying to do other things with my life.”
Chappelle felt that fame would interfere with raising his three children Sulyman, Ibrahim, and Sanaa, who he shares with wife Elaine Erfe. “That kind of attention wouldn’t have been conducive to raising a family.” Chapelle also told People he spent the majority of his break from stand-up comedy, “with my family and friends.”
Chris Pratt
After filming The Magnificent Seven in 2016, Chris Pratt was more than ready to spend time with his then-wife Anna Farris and their son, Jack. “I’ve been on the road for 14 months,” Pratt told Parade that year. “I did three movies back to back to back, so I’m taking six months off.”
Pratt elaborated on how he planned to spend his time off — and spoiler alert — it involved Jack. “I’m taking Jack to Jack’s Beach, which is what we named the little stretch of beach on an island up on the San Juan Islands where we got a place,” he said. “We’re going to go back to the fort we built about a month and a half ago when we went for a short visit and see if that’s still there. If not, we’re going to build it again.”
Pratt now shares daughters Lyla and Eloise with wife Katherine Schwarzenegger.
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