Daniel Day-Lewis is clarifying his past comments about retiring from acting.
The 68-year-old Oscar-winning actor announced his retirement in 2017 and came out of it to star in a new movie, Anemone, which he co-wrote with son Ronan Day-Lewis, who also directs.
Keep reading to see what he said…
“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 told Rolling Stone. “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?’”
He explained that he did have “certain reservations about being back in the public world again” when considering starring in the movie, but Ronan “made it pretty clear that he wasn’t going to do it if I didn’t do it.”
“It was just kind of a low-level fear, [an] anxiety about re-engaging with the business of filmmaking,” Daniel added about his nerves of acting again. “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. I mean, 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 [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.”
“But looking back on it immediately — I would have done well to just keep my mouth shut, for sure,” he added. “It just seems like such grandiose gibberish to talk about. I never intended to retire, really. I just stopped doing that particular type of work so I could do some other work. I never, you know… Apparently, I’ve been accused of retiring twice immediately. I never meant to retire from anything! I just wanted to work on something else for a while. … As I get older, it just takes me longer and longer to find my way back to the place where the furnace is burning again. But working with Ro, that furnace just lit up. And it was, from beginning to end, just pure joy to spend that time together with him.”
Daniel previously took a break from acting in 1997 after The Boxer, before returning in 2002 for Gangs of New York.
If you missed it, check out the trailer for Anemone, which debuts in theaters nationwide on October 10th.
A series creator recently revealed that Daniel is their dream guest star for the next season of their show!
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