Lea Thompson felt that after Back to the Future and the film with Tom Cruise, she could no longer be a movie star because of her motherhood

Back to the Future Star Lea Thompson explained that her mainstream film career ended after the birth of her children. Thompson was a rising star in the 1980s, but was relegated to television roles in the 1990s. Thompson was successful in her role as Lorraine McFly in Robert Zemeckis' three-part time travel film. Before that, she was Tom Cruise's partner in the 1983 film. The right steps.

Thompson met Howard Deutch during their popular teen film Somehow wonderful and married the filmmaker in 1989. She had her first child, actress Madelyn Deutch, in 1991 and her second child, actress Zoey Deutch, in 1994.

Lea Thompson says she lost her movie star status due to motherhood

Lea Thompson played the mother of Michael J. Fox's character Marty McFly in the blockbuster series, Back to the Future. She reprised her role in two more films in the trilogy and starred in several other roles before disappearing from mainstream film. Thompson explained her disappearance during a conversation with Justin Long on his podcast Life is short.

Thompson shared her personal and professional stories, including how she met Howard Deutch when she was still engaged to Dennis Quaid. She said that this time in her life was a crazy time because she was starring in too many movies. She told Life is short:

He had a crush on me. But at the time I was still engaged to Dennis Quaid. So I had to get out of there somehow before… but it was a crazy time, I mean, I watched like 900 movies in a row.

However, she admitted that her career as a mainstream actress ended abruptly when she became a mother in 1991. She said that she wanted to research the subject because she had discovered that you couldn't become a Hollywood star if you had given birth to a baby. She said:

I've done 900 movies in a row, but when you have a baby, everything comes to a halt. I want to explore that because when you have a baby, you can't be a movie star anymore.

Thompson also had the research ready for Justin Long. She said that the only person she could imagine having a successful career after having a child was Meryl Streep. She also added that adoptive mothers are not affected by this stereotype, citing Sandra Bullock and Charlize Theron as examples.

Lea Thompson switched to a television career after starring in major films

Lea Thompson made her debut alongside Dennis Quaid in Jaws 3DAfter her debut, she played alongside Tom Cruise in The right stepsShe played the lead role in the action film Red Dawn and the film comedy The wild lifebefore they Back to the Future. She landed the leading roles in SpaceCamp And Howard the Duck.

She played the role of Amanda Jones, the popular teenage girl, in Somehow wonderful in 1987. She revealed to Justin Long that she never got another major film after the 1993 film The Beverly HillbilliesShe shared:

Does your face change that much? Or what happens? I never did another movie after that, a lead role, I did The Beverly Hillbillies, I never did another major feature film after that.

After the birth of her second child, she switched to television roles. She got the title role in the sitcom Caroline in the cityShe did not particularly like sitcoms because of the pressure of performing in front of a live audience. From 2005 onwards she played in the Jane Doe TV anthology series as a lead actress. She played Kathryn Kennish in 73 episodes of the Freeform show Switched at birth.

Thompson's Back to the Future The trilogy is now available to rent on AppleTV+. The right steps is also available to rent on AppleTV+.