Why the ‘Weird Science’ Knockout Left Hollywood for a Much Different Life

Kelly LeBrock was one of Hollywood’s most recognizable faces in the 1980s, starring in hits like “The Woman in Red” and “Weird Science.” But at the height of her fame, the actress abruptly walked away from the spotlight. Now 65, LeBrock is opening up about why she traded red carpets for ranch life — and why she has no regrets.

Kelly LeBrock Left Hollywood to Focus on Family

LeBrock, who began modeling at 16 before transitioning to acting, said her departure from Hollywood wasn’t a slow fade — it was a full escape.

“I ran away. I didn’t step away,” LeBrock told Fox News Digital. “I was never impressed with myself or Hollywood. I never really cared about it. And I did the right thing.”

After her 1987 marriage to action star Steven Seagal — with whom she co-starred in the 1990 film “Hard to Kill” — the couple welcomed three children: Annaliza, Dominic, and Arissa. When their divorce was finalized in 1996, LeBrock chose to leave the entertainment industry and raise her children on a ranch near Santa Barbara, California.

“I could always go back to a career, but I couldn’t go back to my children,” she explained. “I grew up in boarding school. At five, I was sent away. And I didn’t want to have that story for my children.”

Today, her kids are grown and thriving: Annaliza works as a deputy sheriff in California, Dominic is starting a film production in Russia, and Arissa — who appeared alongside her mother in the 2017 Lifetime reality show “Growing Up Supermodel” — has pursued both modeling and professional wrestling. LeBrock is also a proud grandmother of three.

On her ranch, she tends to chickens, sheep, goats, horses, dogs, and cats. She joked that her biggest daily challenge isn’t keeping up with Hollywood beauty standards, but something more relatable:

“The hardest thing for me is not putting on makeup or trying to look nice. It’s trying to get those chin hairs out of my chin,” she laughed.

She’s also working on “Kelly Care,” a product line designed to help with pet grooming and wound care — another passion project far removed from the entertainment industry.

From ‘Weird Science’ to Ranch Life

LeBrock’s career took off after her breakout role in “The Woman in Red” and her turn as the computer-created dream girl Lisa in John Hughes’ 1985 comedy “Weird Science.” She became the face of Pantene, delivering the now-iconic commercial line, “Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful” — a moment she once found intimidating.

“I used to be so insecure and self-conscious that if anybody even looked at me, I’d go red,” she told Allure in 2012. “Even though it was tongue-in-cheek, it was really difficult to say.”

Looking back, she says she feels more confident now than in her modeling and acting heyday.

“I never thought I was beautiful. I feel more beautiful now than I did then. Youth is wasted on the young, that’s for sure,” she reflected.

Life in the wilderness came naturally to LeBrock, though it’s not without dangers — from mountain lions to rattlesnakes. “The last time I saw one, I ran home on my horse and haven’t been back to that area since,” she said.

She’s critical of modern life’s disconnect from nature, lamenting that “nobody’s talking” in public spaces because everyone is glued to their phones.

Still, she’s grateful for her journey — from the sets of “Weird Science” alongside a young Robert Downey Jr. to the quiet of her California ranch. As she put it:

“Because we had fun in those days… People actually looked like how they looked. It was just a fun, easygoing period in life. Where, if we had cameras and smartphones in those days, we’d all be arrested.”

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