Michelle Pfeiffer Explains Her Break From Hollywood

By Ned Ehrbar

(CBS NEWS) – If moviegoers have missed seeing Michelle Pfeiffer around, they're in luck, because the "Fabulous Baker Boys" star is back after nearly four years away from Hollywood.

Pfeiffer will star as Ruth Madoff next month in HBO's "The Wizard of Lies," reuniting with Robert De Niro, who plays Bernie Madoff. Later this year, she will star opposite Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem in Darren Aronofsky's "Mother!" and she will co-star with Johnny Depp, Daisy Ridley and Penelope Cruz in a remake of "Murder on the Orient Express" directed by Kenneth Branagh. She also debuted the indie feature "Where is Kyra?" at Sundance earlier this year.

Pfeiffer was last seen opposite De Niro in 2013's "The Family." So where exactly has she been?

"I disappeared, yeah," Pfeiffer said in a chat with Aronofsky for Interview magazine.

As for the sudden resurgence in activity, the three-time Oscar nominee said the timing was just right. "You know, when the student is ready, the teacher appears," she said. "I'm more open now, my frame of mind, because I really want to work now, because I can."

One of the factors keeping her off movie screens was the desire to be present for her two children -- now in their 20s -- with husband David E. Kelley.

"The first thing that comes to mind is I'm an empty-nester now," Pfeiffer explained. "I was pretty careful about where I shot, how long I was away, whether or not it worked out with the kids' schedule. And I got so picky that I was un-hirable. And then ... I don't know, time just went on."

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