The ultimate Hollywood dream is turning into a burnout nightmare for Australia’s biggest exports, with stars ditching Tinseltown for multimillion-dollar compounds on home soil.
While names like Chris Hemsworth and Simon Baker still attract attention abroad, they have opted to build their lives and invest in property back Down Under.
Others, including Eric Bana and Rachel Griffiths, have exposed the “isolating” reality of the US movie industry.
Here is a look at the Aussie stars who left Hollywood, and what ultimately brought them back to the country, spilling millions of dollars into real estate.
Chris Hemsworth
Chris Hemsworth ditched the glitz and glamour of Hollywood, opting to move his family to a farm in his native Australia.
The Melbourne-born actor said leaving Tinseltown was the “greatest decision” he’s ever made.
“It was right around the time my boys were born, and it was just, we kind of were set up in LA and not enjoying it, you know?,” he explained during an episode of SmartLess.
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Chris Hemsworth ditched the glitz and glamour of Hollywood, opting to move his family to a farm in his native Australia. Picture: Neilson Barnard/Getty Images
“Like nothing was shooting there. We were filming kind of everywhere else
“And then … you’d come home and paparazzi and all the sort of the trappings of, you know, living in that space,” Hemsworth added.
The Thor star shares three kids with wife Elsa Pataky. The couple bought a big slice of land in Byron Bay, NSW in 2014.
Nicknamed “Fortress Hemsworth” by locals, the estate took three years to build.
Now valued at as much as $50 million, the state-of-the-art home boasts a 50 metre infinity pool, a bowling alley and indoor gyms.
Chris Hemsworth and Elsa Pataky’s property in Byron Bay.
Simon Baker
The Mentalist star Simon Baker returned to Australia after spending two decades in California.
Back in 2022, the Launceston-born star told The Guardian that appearing on SBS’s Who Do You Think You Are? was a “good time” to explore his roots.
“I’ve seen the show before, and people have a really focused idea of what they wanted to get out of it,” he told the publication.
“I didn’t really have that, but it came at a certain point in my life recently where there were a lot of shifts and changes, so it was a good time to take stock.”
Simon Baker returned to Australia after spending two decades in California. Picture: Brendon Thorne/Getty Images for AFI
Over the years, the Home and Away alum has cashed in on the Aussie real estate market.
Baker and his then-wife Rebecca Rigg owned a terrace in Paddington that was sold in 2007 for $3.3 million.
The former couple offloaded their North Bondi beach pad for more than $3.5 million within two weeks of it hitting the market. They paid $2.63 million for the apartment in 2014.
The three-bedroom property features incredible views and includes access to an exclusive 118 sqm rooftop terrace.
In 2022, The Devil Wears Prada star spent around $6 million for a property between Bondi Beach and Tamarama that was marketed as a “tropical rainforest haven”.
The three-bedroom property has views of Bondi Beach. Baker’s purchase followed the 2021 sale of the Bronte property he shared with his ex-wife for $17 million.
The Logie-winner also retains a retreat at Nashua in the hinterland above Byron Bay, which he purchased in 2009 for $1.5 million.
The former couple offloaded their North Bondi beach pad for more than $3.5 million within two weeks of it hitting the market.
In 2022, The Devil Wears Prada star spent around $6 million for a property between Bondi Beach and Tamarama that was marketed as a “tropical rainforest haven”.
Eric Bana
Despite his international success in films like Hulk and Troy, Eric Bana has long maintained his primary residence in Melbourne.
The actor reportedly a $10 million, six-bedroom residence with a nine-car underground garage in Brighton.
But one detail about Melbourne may have tipped Bana over the edge.
In a frank interview with FilmInk in 2024, he said: “Where I lived in Melbourne was very, very extreme, a very strict lockdown for a very long period of time.
“So, I was dying to go back to work and to travel.”
The Full Frontal alum previously owned a home in Hampton which was put up for auction in 2016.
Since 2003, Bana has owned a beachside residence in Mosman, Sydney. The Castle star splashed out $4 million on a Balmoral house.
Eric Bana has long maintained his primary residence in Melbourne. Picture: David Crosling
The Full Frontal alum previously owned a home in Hampton which was put up for auction in 2016.
Rachel Griffiths
Rachel Griffiths returned Down Under from the US to seek a better work-life balance and focus on Australian stories.
The Muriel’s Wedding star had been working intensive 80-hour weeks for a decade on hit shows like Six Feet Under and Brothers & Sisters.
“As successful as I was, and as well paying as my career was … I never felt quite comfortable telling other people’s stories,” the actress said in 2021.
Since returning to Australia, Griffiths and her husband Andrew Taylor have made some savvy property moves.
In 2021, the couple snapped up a Sydney retreat in Darlinghurst for $2.01 million.
The Melbourne-based family retains an 1890s-built St Kilda home bought for $2.01 million in 2014.
The duo had a Palm Beach homebase which was sold in 2014 for $2.2 million. Griffiths bought her the two-bedroom cottage on Whale Beach Road for $735,000 in 1998
Rachel Griffiths returned Down Under from the US to seek a better work-life balance and focus on Australian stories. Picture: Canty Creative
The duo had a Palm Beach homebase which was sold in 2014 for $2.2 million.
Mia Wasikowska
Once dubbed as a Hollywood “it” girl, Mia Wasikowska left Tinseltown behind for her native Australia because she “didn’t entirely like the lifestyle”
The Alice in Wonderland actress moved back to Down Under in the late 2010s. She was last reported living in the inner-west of Sydney.
“I felt really disconnected from any greater community,” the Canberra-born star told IndieWire in 2023.
“I was doing it since I had been 17 — well, more like 15 — but really working a lot from 17. I spent 10 to 15 years, completely like, new city, new country, every three months.
“And it’s like starting school again every few months. Especially when you’re younger, when you don’t have that base. I found that really hard.”
Mia Wasikowska moved back to Down Under in the late 2010s. Picture by Damian Shaw
Cody Simpson
Cody Simpson left Hollywood and his music career to pursue a childhood dream of competitive swimming.
The La Da Dee singer moved back to Australia in 2019 to train.
“I disappeared to grind my a** off for years & achieve my childhood dream of making the Australian Swim Team” he wrote on X in 2025.
Cody Simpson left Hollywood and his music career to pursue a childhood dream of competitive swimming. Picture: Michael Loccisano/Getty Images
Simpson recently sold the Gold Coast property he shared with former partner Emma McKeon following their separation in late 2025.
The pair offloaded their forever home in Labrador for $2.1 million shortly before confirming their split in February 2026.
The dwelling was built on a 505sq m block in 2022. The duo achieved a gain of $274,000 for the home, having paid $1.826 million for it.
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