Why Aussie star walked away from Hollywood

She was one of the stars of one of the most watched shows in the world, but then Yael Stone gave it all up for a new life.

Yael Stone has opened up about her shocking decision to quit Hollywood at the height of her fame.

The Australian actress famously starred on Netflix smash hit Orange Is the New Black.

She was set for huge success, until a chance encounter with her partner brought them together on a shared mission that saw her former dreams of Hollywood stardom left in the dust.

The couple balance raising their two young daughters with their professional lives. Stone has turned her attention to climate activism, while her partner, Manning Bancroft, runs AIME, an Indigenous youth mentoring program.

Yael Stone has a new life away from Hollywood with her partner. Picture: ABC

While their paths are very different, the root to their passions remains the same; they wish to contribute positively to the world around them.

“I’m sure there are people who look at my decisions and think they’re a little unhinged in terms of totally self-sabotaging my career,” Stone shared on the latest episode of Australian Story.

“I think a lot of people be like, ‘This lady is cuckoo.’ But you have to make the choices you can live with.”

In 2016, at the height of her fame, Stone bumped into Bancroft in Sydney and the pair instantly hit it off, and they realised they shared a similar vision for their lives.

Stone starred in Orange is the New Black on Netflix. Picture: Netflix.

In 2019, Stone’s green card for the US arrived. It was set to open up her career to huge opportunities following the critical acclaim and fame she had garnered from the prison drama.

The plan was for the family of three to live between the US and Australia. However, months later, as bushfires ravaged Australia over Black Summer, she felt it was no longer ethical to keep jetting between two counties

“The carbon emissions alone are not right,” she explained when she announced publicly that she was returning her green card as a “personal sacrifice” in the “climate war”.

The actress decided to ditch Hollywood for life in Australia. Picture: ABC

“That was a really big watershed moment where I couldn’t follow the plan,” she says.

“I felt like I was being a petulant child, making a phone call to big fancy agents being like, ‘I think I want to work on climate change action in Australia.’”

After three years of searching for the best way to spend her life, Yael founded Hi Neighbour. The not-for-profit group provides opportunities for locals, including steel and coal workers, to train in renewables.

“These people have the skills and the know-how to make this transition happen, so they’re actually the heroes of this moment. We should be empowering those people to make that change,” she said.