“Charmed” Alum Holly Marie Combs Confirms She’s ‘Retired’ from Acting 7 Years After Her Last Role

Julia MooreThu, August 27, 2026 at 9:35 PM UTC

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Holly Marie Combs at German Film & Comic ConCredit: Action Press/Shutterstock -

Holly Marie Combs opened up about her retirement from acting for the first time on the Aug. 25 episode of her podcast

The Charmed star shared how her three sons contributed to her decision to step away and revealed whether she’s open to the possibility of returning to the screen down the road

“Being in, you know, that 40 to 50 [years old] range, the job pool gets even smaller and smaller, and I feel like the roles get a little less interesting,” she said

Holly Marie Combs is not planning on returning to the screen anytime soon.

The actress, 52, who gained fame in the ‘90s on Picket Fences and Charmed, has not acted in seven years, and she opened up about the decision on the Aug. 25 episode of The House of Halliwell podcast.

“I’m retired,” Combs said, sharing that the decision mostly had to do with “family,” as she shares three sons with her ex-husband, David W. Donoho.

Recalling the “mayhem and chaos” in her house during the COVID-19 pandemic, Combs said, “The stuff that I was getting and coming across my desk was just nothing that I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is really great. I need to do this.’ And being in, you know, that 40 to 50 [years old] range, the job pool gets even smaller and smaller, and I feel like the roles get a little less interesting.”

Shannen Doherty and Holly Marie Combs at MegaCon Orlando 2024.Credit: Gerardo Mora/Getty

She said that the industry is “not as bad with the ageism as it used to be,” but still, “there was nothing blowing up my skirt.” So she decided to take a step back.

She did not rule out the possibility of a return to the acting world, though. “My two youngest are still in high school. I think once Kelly has graduated successfully, I might consider [it],” she said. “Obviously, I’ll be sitting around with a lot more time on my hands.”

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“I miss it occasionally,” she added. “There’s those moments when you’re involved and you’re acting and you’re working that are just... I think it’s like being present. You’re just present and you’re in the moment, and that’s what actually feels good. That’s what escapism is.”

Combs’ last credit is a 2019 episode of Grey’s Anatomy. Before that, she played Ella Montgomery on Pretty Little Liars for six seasons, from 2010 to 2017.

Holly Marie Combs attends the premiere of ‘Kubo and the Two Strings’ on August 14, 2016.Credit: David Livingston/Getty

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She played the mom of Lucy Hale’s character, Aria, despite their relatively small age gap.

“I embraced it because you know, at that point, the network was notorious for casting young-looking parents,” Combs said of the role at ‘90s Con last year. “I was like, ‘Hey, I’d rather have people say she looks too young to be Lucy Hale’s mom,’ than say, ‘Oh, she got old.’”

Working on the series also reminded her of her own experience on Charmed. “It was kind of a mirror experience because I got to watch the girls go through a lot of what we did,” she shared of the Pretty Little Liars cast, which also included Shay Mitchell, Troian Bellisario and Ashley Benson. “They were far more professional than we were.”

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”