Three-time Oscar winner Daniel Day-Lewis has said he “never intended to retire” and “would have done well to just keep [his] mouth shut” about his departure from acting. In an interview with Rolling Stone, the actor discussed his return in the film Anemone, directed by his son Ronan Day-Lewis, after an eight-year hiatus.
Day-Lewis announced his retirement in 2017 following the release of Phantom Thread, but now says he simply stopped that type of work to focus on other projects. “It just seems like such grandiose gibberish to talk about,” he said. “I never intended to retire, really. I just stopped doing that particular type of work so I could do some other work.”
The actor previously stepped away from film acting between 1997’s The Boxer and 2002’s Gangs of New York, during which he apprenticed with an Italian shoemaker. He also quit stage acting in 1989 while performing Hamlet at the National Theatre.
Working with his son reignited his passion. “That furnace just lit up,” Day-Lewis said. “It was, from beginning to end, just pure joy.” He admitted to anxiety about re-entering the film industry but emphasised he never stopped loving the work itself.
Reflecting on Phantom Thread, Day-Lewis said the process left him “hollowed out” and fearing he had nothing left to offer. However, he now regrets his retirement announcement. Anemone is set to premiere at the New York Film Festival in September.
