Portia de Rossi Reveals Why She Quit Acting...But Still Stars in 'Arrested Development' Season 5

Appearing on wife Ellen DeGeneres' talk show on Wednesday, the actress confirmed she's done with the business and has turned her attentions to a new outlet for her creativity, one with Ellen's full support.

"You aren't a big fan of doing press and talk shows, so thank you for being here," DeGeneres said to Portia on the show. "She really doesn't. That's why she actually quit acting. She decided you didn't want to do anything more with acting and got off of 'Scandal.'"

There was a little more behind her decision to pivot to a new career. "I was approaching 45 and I was just wondering was there something that I could tackle now that I've never done before, that would be really challenging and different," she explained. "I kind of knew what acting would look like for me for the next 10, 20 years, so I decided to quit and start a business."

"I made this decision about 18 months ago, Shonda Rhimes wrote me off 'Scandal.' It was fine," she continued. "I called Mitch Horowitz, who's the creator of 'Arrested Development,' and said if there is a Season 5, I won't be doing it because I quit acting and he seemed really understanding and he totally got it, and then he wrote me into 5 episodes. I don't know how it happened, but, yes, I am on Season 5."

Her decision to return paid off, as the show surprised de Rossi and Ellen with a $50,000 donation toward The Ellen DeGeneres Wildlife Fund -- see their stunned reaction below!

Portia's art curation and publishing company, General Public, prints reproductions of paintings, "with all the texture and articulation that's in the original painting." It's done with artists' permission and they receive a cut of the royalties.

"I see a lot of women in their mid 40s thinking about the next stage in their lives and I didn't want to regret not trying something," she added, before thanking Ellen for her support. "I'm proud of you," Ellen replied. "I think it's amazing, she's smart as can be and easy on the eyes."

Despite the love affair going on on stage, de Rossi did admit to screwing up some of the party planning for Ellen's star-studded 60th birthday bash.

"It was up to me to do the guest list and I may have left a couple of very important people off. It's my fault. Sorry, Jane Fonda," she said, as DeGeneres explained that there "were a couple people who were so mad."

"She's like my idol and I forgot her," Portia said of Fonda. "Heidi Klum, you make the best swimsuits ever, I'm so sorry."

Hopefully, all is forgiven.

"Arrested Development" Season 5 starts streaming on Netflix on May 29.