As the decade progressed, MacLaine stepped out of the limelight until she made her feature directorial debut in Bruno (2000), which premiered at the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival.

MacLaine had one daughter, Stephanie Sachiko, with her husband Steve Parker. The couple divorced in 1982, ending their 28-year marriage. She is known (and sometimes ridiculed in the press) for her devotion to New Age spirituality, which includes a strong belief in reincarnation. She has written several best-selling works about herself and her spirituality, including Don’t Fall Off the Mountain (1971), You Can Get There From Here (1975), Out on a Limb (1983), Dancing in the Light (1986), It’s All in the Playing (1988), Dance While You Can (1992), My Lucky Stars: A Hollywood Memoir (1995), and, most recently, The Camino (2000). .