'The Thorn Birds' star Rachel Ward traded 'empty' Hollywood for farm life in Australia

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2026 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by LSEG. Fox News Flash top entertainment and celebrity headlines are here. "The Thorn Birds" star Rachel Ward candidly opened up about leaving Hollywood behind to become a farmer in Australia. Born to an aristocratic family in Britain, Ward, now 68, launched a successful modeling career across London, Paris and New York City before moving to Los Angeles in the early 1980s to pursue acting. However, during a recent episode of the Australia Broadcasting Company (ABC)'s docuseries "Australian Story," War explained that she quickly became disillusioned with the entertainment in LA and the roles that she was being offered. "You soon find it's a very vacuous place to inhabit … it's very empty and it's very unsatisfying," Ward said. "I was just make-up, I was fantasy." "The Thorn Birds" star Rachel Ward reflected on leaving "vacuous" Hollywood behind for farm life