Cameron Diaz on why she retired from acting, who encouraged her to become a mother

It's been about six years since Cameron Diaz stepped away from her career as an actress, and now she's opening up about why she made the decision.

During the Aug. 5 installment of "In Goop Health: The Sessions," Diaz, 47, sat down with Gwyneth Paltrow, also 47, and revealed she came to the realization she needed to call it quits when she turned 40.

"I stopped and really looked at my life," she told Paltrow. "When you’re making a movie ... they own you. You’re there for 12 hours a day for months on end, you have no time for anything else."

"I realized I handed off parts of my life to all these other people," the "Charlie's Angels" star added. "I had to basically take it back and take responsibility for my own life. I had been going so hard for so long, working, making films, such a grind. I didn’t make any space for my personal life."

The life-changing move has only had positive effects on Diaz, who admitted that walking away from her movie career has brought her "peace."

"A peace in my soul because I was finally taking care of myself," she said.

These days, instead of being on set, Diaz is soaking up time with her 7-month-old daughter, Raddix Chloe Wildflower, whom she shares with husband Benji Madden.

The "There's Something About Mary" star also took this opportunity to tell Paltrow, "I would not have become a mother if it wasn't for you."

Recalling their past conversations, Diaz said she used to say she wasn't having kids and the "Shakespeare in Love" star would urge her to consider it and didn't take no for an answer.

"You were just on me all the time," she remembered. "You were like, 'You have to. You don’t understand, if you don’t do this you will be so sad that you didn’t do it.' And so I credit you so much with the fact that you never let up on me."

Paltrow replied that her insistence was simply because she "knew what a natural mother" her friend was, saying, "Some women aren’t, but you, I was like, 'You’re born to do it.'"

In the end, Diaz said her reluctance to have kids was out of "fear" that she wouldn't find a partner with whom to embark on this journey.

Thankfully, she was introduced to her husband by her friend -- and now sister-in-law -- Nicole Richie, who is married to his twin brother, Joel. Diaz and Madden, 41, have been married for more than five years, tying the knot in January 2015.