Daniel Day-Lewis is making a surprise return to acting seven years after he declared his retirement. The acclaimed three-time Oscar winner will star in the film Anemone, directed by his son Ronan Day-Lewis. The project, produced by Focus Features alongside Brad Pitt’s Plan B, delves into complex familial relationships among fathers, sons, and brothers.
In addition to acting, the 67-year-old Day-Lewis has taken an active role in the film’s creation, co-writing the screenplay with his 26-year-old son. The cast includes notable actors like Sean Bean, Samantha Morton, Samuel Bottomley, and Safia Oakley-Green.
When Day-Lewis retired in 2017 during a press tour for Paul Thomas Anderson’s film Phantom Thread, he expressed a strong desire to step away from the industry. “It was something I had to do,” he stated at the time. His publicist confirmed his retirement with a statement expressing gratitude toward collaborators and audiences, emphasizing that it was a private decision without plans for further public discussion.
Critics often regard Day-Lewis as one of the greatest actors of his time; he holds the record for the most Academy Awards for Best Actor for his performances in My Left Foot (1989), There Will Be Blood (2007), and Lincoln (2012). He also received nominations for Gangs of New York (2002), In the Name of the Father (1993), and Phantom Thread (2017).
Before his 2017 retirement, Day-Lewis had briefly stepped back from acting in the late 1990s and experienced a semi-retirement focused on woodworking and shoemaking in Florence, Italy. His history with the stage is marked by a notable incident in 1989 when he left a performance of Hamlet mid-show after claiming to see his father’s ghost. While he later framed this experience as more metaphorical, he has not returned to the stage since.
In contrast to his father’s path, Ronan Day-Lewis has emerged as a painter with works displayed in New York, and he will soon have his first international solo exhibition in Hong Kong. Daniel Day-Lewis also has two other sons, Gabriel-Kane and Cashel, suggesting that if he ever contemplates retirement again, his sons may inspire him to return with their own creative projects.