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Freddie Prinze Jr Stopped Acting To Cook Food

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Updated on July 6, 2023

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Actor Freddie Prinze Jr. has taken a break from acting to pursue another exciting business opportunity. The I Know What You Did Last Summer actor has been spending a lot of time in the kitchen, as evidenced by his new cookbook Back to the Kitchen, which was published in June of this year.

Prinze Jr. told CBS News during a cooking demonstration in New York City that his Green (Chile) Eggs and Ham, a spin on the Dr. Suess childhood classic, isn’t simply another celebrity cookbook. Prinze Jr. has an experience in cooking.

While many people were taken aback by the 44-year-old actor’s new enterprise, many close to him anticipated it since they had become used to his passion for food and ability to whip up a storm in the kitchen.

The 41-year-old actor claimed that he isn’t just another celebrity who has tried their hand at cooking since he and his lover, Sarah Michelle Geller, have a long history with food and cooking. He’s taking a break from the big screen to reignite the flame.

“My mother worked in restaurants her whole life,” Prinze Jr. said. “That’s where she met my father, at a comedy club in Reno, Nevada. She was the chef there.”

The She’s All That actor said of his cookbook, which offers recipes that need minimum ingredients that “everything is nine ingredients or less and two of those ingredients are salt and pepper so that doesn’t count. I try to make everything very simple. A lot of walkaway food, meaning you put in 20 minutes of work and walk away for 90 and do whatever you want.” The Holy Bleep Pulled Pork Taco is his favorite dish from the cookbook, he said.

Prinze Jr. has teamed up with Dunkin’ Donuts cold brew coffee packets to promote his passion for coffee and to encourage families to return to the breakfast table, a habit he has worked hard to establish in his own home.

Prinze Jr. was raised by his mother after his father, comedian Freddie Prinze, committed himself when he was less than a year old. The “She’s All That” actor spent a lot of time in the kitchen as a kid, and that’s where his love of cooking originated.

He recalls (Per CBS):

I learned about my father in front of a stove. I learned about heartache and heartbreak in front of a stove. There was this girl who stood me up on a date in high school and I was just ripped in two and my mom said, “Teenage girls don’t want like nice boys like you. They want to date jerks. But when you grow up, you’re still going to be a nice guy and all those girls that grew up are going to be looking for that. And there’s only going to be about seven nice guys left, so you’re going to have your pick.”

Handout/Getty Images

Another reason for Freddie Prinze Jr.’s desire to leave Hollywood? He yearned to be with his children, Charlotte and Rocky, whom he and his wife, Sarah Michelle Gellar, share. In 2016, he said to GQ Magazine, “I wanted to be a stay-at-home dad. I wanted to cook breakfast and dinner for my kids every day.”

In fact, Prinze Jr. remembers the precise moment when he decided to quit performing. He told GQ Magazine, “I took my kid to jiu jitsu five days in a row. It was like summer break. I literally was just like, ‘This is like the greatest week of my life. I just watched my girl choke out a 7-year-old boy!'”