FOOT IN MOUTH

Daniel Day-Lewis Reveals Why He Returned to Acting After Retiring

The “My Left Foot” star last appeared in a movie in 2017.

Daniel Day-Lewis never specifically intended to retire from acting despite feeling empty at the end of each project. Day-Lewis rose to Hollywood infamy through his zealous method acting but called time on his career in 2017 following the wrap of Phantom Thread, which he said left him “feeling hollowed out.” The three-time Oscar winner said he was no stranger to feeling that way after projects but when the 2017 crime-romance finished, he feared “there wouldn’t be that regeneration,” he had felt previously. Instead, the Gangs of New York star said he needed to “keep away” from acting because he “didn’t have anything to offer.” “Looking back on it now—I would have done well to just keep my mouth shut, for sure.” Now, he’s returning to the screen eight years later to feature in Anemone, directed by his son Ronan Day-Lewis, ahead of which he revealed the motivation for his lengthy break. “I never intended to retire, really,” he told Rolling Stone in an interview alongside Ronan. “I just stopped doing that particular type of work so I could do some other work… I never meant to retire from anything! I just wanted to work on something else for a while.”