Daniel Day-Lewis quit acting because he felt “hollowed out”

Daniel Day-Lewis has explained why he retired from acting in 2017, as well as what drew him back with new film Anemone.

Famous for films such as My Left Foot, Gangs Of New York, and There Will Be Blood, the actor is considered to be one of the greatest talents of his generation. However, the Oscar winner announced after the release of Phantom Thread in 2017 that he would be stepping away from the profession.

A spokesperson for the star at the time said: “Daniel Day-Lewis will no longer be working as an actor. He is immensely grateful to all of his collaborators and audiences over the many years. This is a private decision and neither he nor his representatives will make any further comment on this subject.”

Eight years later, he has returned to the industry for Anemone, which he has written with his son, Ronan Day-Lewis. The actor also stars as a reclusive former soldier living in the woods, who is forced to confront the past when his brother (Sean Bean) seeks him out.

Speaking to Rolling Stone about why he initially retired, Daniel Day-Lewis remarked: “The work was always something I loved. I never, ever stopped loving the work. But there were aspects of the way of life that went with it that I’d never come to terms with — from the day I started out to today. There’s something about that process that left me feeling hollowed out at the end of it.”

He continued: “I was well acquainted with it. I understood that it was all part of the process, and that there would be a regeneration eventually. And it was only really in the last experience [making Phantom Thread] that I began to feel quite strongly that maybe there wouldn’t be that regeneration anymore. That I just probably should just keep away from it, because I didn’t have anything else to offer.”

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The pull to return came from seeing his son begin his career as a filmmaker. “I had some residual sadness because I knew Ronan was going to go on to make films, and I was walking away from that.” He explained. “I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be lovely if we could do something together and find a way of maybe containing it, so that it didn’t necessarily have to be something that required all the paraphernalia of a big production?’”

The star also confessed a certain amount of trepidation about returning. “It was just kind of a low-level fear” he said, “[an] anxiety about re-engaging with the business of filmmaking,”
Anemone will have its world premiere at the New York Film Festival before being released in the US on October 3, and in the UK on November 7.

Recently, the debut of the film’s trailer was celebrated by fans, who hailed the actor’s comeback as “epic.”

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