Portia de Rossi Explains Why She Returned to 'Arrested Development' Despite Quitting Acting (Exclusive)

The 45-year-old confirmed she wasn't acting anymore on Wednesday's episode of 'The Ellen DeGeneres Show.'

There's only one character that could bring Portia de Rossi out of retirement, and that's Lindsay Bluth. 

The 45-year-old actress announced that she was no longer acting earlier this week, but appears in Netflix's upcoming season five of Arrested Development. 

"I did quit," de Rossi told ET's Sophie Schillaci at the Arrested Development premiere in Los Angeles on Thursday. "I told [creator Mitchell Hurwitz]. Mitch ignored me and wrote me in." 

"I have to say I love Arrested Development so much, and if I wasn't a part of this season, I would be so sad," she continued. "I'm happy to be a Bluth. Once a Bluth, always a Bluth, I say. So apart from Arrested Development, I have quit acting." 

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De Rossi confirmed her career change during an appearance on wife Ellen DeGeneres' talk show on Wednesday, revealing that she's now focusing on business, and started an art curation and publishing company called General Public. 

"I made this decision about 18 months ago, Shonda Rhimes wrote me off Scandal, it was fine," de Rossi told DeGeneres. "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, but yes, I am on season five."

This season, fans will watch Lindsay run for office, but de Rossi says it won't do much to the Bluth family dynamic. "I mean, it doesn't matter what Lindsay does. I don't think it has an impact on the rest of the family," she told ET. "I doubt they are supportive. I doubt they are impressed in any way, but Lindsay feels like she is doing the right thing, and that's all that matters." 

"At the end of season four, when I had that whole speech to build the wall, I thought it was the most ridiculous thing that I heard in my life," she said of the show's parallels to real life. "So, yeah." 

Thursday's event also marked Jeffrey Tambor's first red carpet since he left Transparent following allegations of sexual assault (which he denies). The 73-year-old actor had the full support of his Arrested Development co-stars. Watch below. 

Arrested Development returns to Netflix on May 29. 

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