Daryl Hannah has not disappeared or died; she’s very much alive and has largely chosen a quieter, more private life focused on activism, selective creative projects, and her relationship with musician Neil Young.

Where she is now

  • She continues to work as an environmental activist , especially on climate, anti-pipeline, and conservation causes.
  • She makes only occasional Hollywood appearances; for example, she attended the 2025 Oscars to present an award, which was noted as a rare red-carpet outing.
  • She remains involved in film and music-adjacent projects, including a documentary related to Neil Young’s 2023 tour that she helped promote at the Santa Barbara Film Festival.

Why she seemed to “disappear”

Many people asking “what happened to Daryl Hannah” are reacting to how much less often she appears in mainstream movies and interviews, compared with her 1980s–2000s peak.

Key reasons often mentioned in retrospectives and interviews:

  • She has spoken about being extremely shy, uncomfortable with publicity, and not a natural extrovert, which made the usual Hollywood spotlight and press circuit difficult for her.
  • Long-form video essays and retrospectives describe her stepping back from the most intense Hollywood grind and becoming more selective, doing smaller or niche projects, and focusing on causes she cares about instead of constant commercial work.
  • Industry commentary also points to changing roles for women in Hollywood as they age, and how that can shrink big-studio opportunities even for well-known actresses.

In other words, nothing “mysterious” happened; she intentionally shifted priorities away from being a mainstream, constantly visible movie star.

Activism and public life

Daryl Hannah has been deeply involved in environmental and social activism for years, sometimes getting arrested in high-profile protests:

  • She joined farmers and activists in 2006 to protest the destruction of the South Central Farm in Los Angeles and was arrested after chaining herself to a tree.
  • She has been arrested multiple times in climate and anti–fossil-fuel actions, including protests against mountaintop removal mining and the Keystone XL pipeline, and even demonstrations near the White House.
  • She supports various environmental organizations and serves with groups like the World Future Council and The Gorilla Organization.

This activist path is a big part of “what happened” to her: much of her energy goes into real-world causes rather than mainstream celebrity culture.

Personal challenges she has discussed

In interviews and specials about her life, Hannah has opened up more about her internal struggles:

  • She has spoken publicly about being on the autism spectrum (often described as Asperger’s syndrome) and how that contributed to intense shyness and discomfort with attention and social situations.
  • She has described still “struggling” with aspects of social interaction and not feeling like a natural exhibitionist, which helps explain her avoidance of constant press and talk-show circuits.

These personal factors, combined with industry dynamics, help explain why she chose a lower-profile existence rather than a dramatic fall or scandal.

Recent mentions and trending context

Her name has been trending again for a few reasons:

  • New “where are they now?”–style videos and retrospectives asking “what really happened to Daryl Hannah” or “what happened to Daryl Hannah at 64” have circulated widely online, summarizing her career, her autism diagnosis, and her later-life activism and marriage.
  • A recent docuseries and articles revisiting John F. Kennedy Jr.’s life and relationships prominently feature her past romance with him, bringing her back into the pop‑culture conversation in early 2026.

So if you’re seeing a lot of “what happened to Daryl Hannah” lately, it’s mostly because people are revisiting her story—not because of a new tragedy or crisis. TL;DR: Daryl Hannah is alive, married to Neil Young, and still occasionally working, but she stepped back from mainstream Hollywood to live more privately and focus on environmental activism and managing lifelong shyness and autism-related challenges.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.