Portia de Rossi explains why she quit acting (with one exception)

Portia de Rossi says her upcoming return to "Arrested Development" for season 5 is an exception to her decision to quit acting.

De Rossi, 45, said on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" Wednesday that as she was approaching her most recent birthday in January, she felt that she was "aging out" as an actress. "I was just kind of wondering if there was something that I could tackle now that I've never done before that would be really challenging and different. And 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," the art-reproduction company General Public, in which artists receive royalties on sales of specially textured prints. De Rossi is married to DeGeneres

De Rossi, who most recently starred in a supporting role in ABC's "Scandal," went on to say she had made the decision "about 18 months ago. [Series creator] Shonda Rhimes wrote me off 'Scandal'; it was fine. I called Mitch Hurwitz, who's the creator of 'Arrested Development,' and I said, 'If there is a season five I won't be doing it because I quit acting.' And he seemed really understanding and he totally got it. We had a really great conversation and then he wrote me into five episodes. I don't know how it happened," she said jokingly, "but, yes, I am on season five."

The cult-favorite comedy series, also starring Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, Michael Cera, Jessica Walter and others, returns May 29 on Netflix.