Terrence Howard Says He's Planning to Retire from Acting: 'I've Given the Very Best that I Have'

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Terrence Howard is ready to leave Hollywood — for real this time.

The Best Man: The Final Chapters lead told Entertainment Tonight he's retiring.

"This is the end for me. This is the end for me," he said before adding of his Best Man co-stars, "I don't know if it's the end for the rest of them."

Howard, 53, then referenced his previous short-lived retirement occurring in September 2019. "I retired two years ago, for the most part. I was done," he recalled.

"I asked Sidney Poitier 10 years ago does he want to do any more work, and he said, 'Why would I spend my last 10 years doing an impersonation of myself?'" he continued. "And that's what I've gotten to."

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The first time Howard announced his plans to retire, he shared the news with ET. At the time, he spoke about "running away" from acting after his role in Empire.

"I've been playing pretend for forever. [There's] no need to play pretend anymore," Howard said. "I've done my time."

RELATED: Vivica A. Fox Doesn't Think Empire Costar Terrence Howard Will Really Quit Acting Like He Says

That same year, his Empire costar Vivica A. Fox doubted how long his retirement would last. "More than likely, he'll probably take off a year or two, hang out with his kids, have a good time, and then the acting bug will hit him again," she said on the PEOPLE Every Day podcast.

Howard began his acting career in 1992 with The Jacksons: An American Dream. He's since gone on to star in several high-profile projects including Crash, Hustle & Flow and Ironman. He also notably played Lucious Lyon on Empire from 2015 to 2020.

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Peacock's The Best Man: The Final Chapters is a continuation of The Best Man franchise, which first aired a film in 1999. The miniseries is set to air on Peacock on Dec. 22.