Why did Daniel Day-Lewis retire?
It’s fair to say that any hopeful actor would be grateful to have even ten per cent of the talent that Daniel Day-Lewis possesses. A true master of the acting craft, proven through performances in which he doesn’t merely portray but rather embodies his characters, leading to three Academy Awards, Day-Lewis is simply one of the greatest of all time, full stop.
With a scintillating intensity and an ability to morph into a wide range of character roles in iconic works, including My Left Foot, There Will Be Blood, Lincoln, In the Name of the Father, Gangs of New York and The Last of the Mohicans, Day-Lewis practically reinvented the acting profession with his bold method acting choices and his expert delivery.
But in 2017, the fearless actor sent shockwaves through the cinema world by announcing that he would be retiring from acting. Day-Lewis had already famously departed his profession in 1997 to take on a shoemaking apprenticeship but came back on screen in 2000, giving his fans hope that 2017 wouldn’t really be the end.
But as things have gone, it looks as though film fans really have seen the last of the master performers. It was around the time of his announcement that Day-Lewis had been completing the press tour for Paul Thomas Anderson’s Phantom Thread, and he explained that the film would be his last.
In an interview with W, Day-Lewis suggested that the film had left an effect on him that he could not quite shake off. “I do know that Paul and I laughed a lot before we made the movie,” he said. “And then we stopped laughing because we were both overwhelmed by a sense of sadness. It was hard to live with. And still is.”
After all, there is a deep intensity to each of Day-Lewis’ performances that undoubtedly takes its toll. Known for his commitment to method acting, through which he truly immerses himself in his characters, there had clearly been a physical and mental exertion on the actor, who, despite his almost divine talents, is just a human being.
“I need to believe in the value of what I’m doing. The work can seem vital. Irresistible, even. And if an audience believes it, that should be good enough for me. But, lately, it isn’t,” the actor also noted. “All my life, I’ve mouthed off about how I should stop acting, and I don’t know why it was different this time, but the impulse to quit took root in me, and that became a compulsion. It was something I had to do.”
In light of that, it’s also worth mentioning that Day-Lewis had pretty much achieved all there was to accomplish in the world of acting, and with such unparalleled success, the necessity of his work seemed to be lessened in him, which is of the utmost importance to his personal worth as an artist. Future projects had simply become of little interest.
Throw into the fact that Day-Lewis also has a family and personal passions like the natural world, woodworking and shoemaking, and the opportunity to walk away from the persistent demands of the acting profession suddenly begins to make more sense. What’s more is that he’d often shied away from the kind of famous lifestyle that being one of the greatest actors of all time provides, so for Day-Lewis to finally put the scripts away and focus on his personal life was too good a chance to reject.
There’s no one particular reason for Daniel Day-Lewis’ retirement, then, but his decision is rather one that is multi-faceted. Having already enjoyed widespread success in the film industry, being a husband and a father to three children, and having deep introspective interests in the world itself, Day-Lewis finally retired from the profession he had undoubtedly mastered.
Whether or not this has really been the last time we see the legendary thespian on screen remains to be seen, but in the W interview, there seemed to be a tint of remorse, with him noting, “Do I feel better? Not yet. I have great sadness. And that’s the right way to feel. How strange would it be if this was just a gleeful step into a brand-new life? I’ve been interested in acting since I was 12 years old.” However, it’s clear that he just wants to “explore the world in a different way” and has given what he has to the cinema; one has to accept his decision.
How many Oscars does Daniel Day-Lewis have?
Daniel Day-Lewis has been awarded three Academy Awards during his time as an actor, all of which have been for the ‘Best Actor’ award. His first arrived in 1989 for his role as Christy Brown in My Left Foot, and the second in 2007 for Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood, in which he played the oilman Daniel Plainview.
Day-Lewis achieved his third Oscar for portraying the former president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, in Steven Spielberg’s 2012 historical drama Lincoln. The actor had received further non-winning nominations for In the Name of the Father, Gangs of New York and Phantom Thread.
What is Daniel Day-Lewis doing now?
Since his retirement in 2017, little is known about Daniel Day-Lewis’s day-to-day activities, and he is known to keep a rather low profile, preferring a sense of privacy. He had been interested in woodworking and shoemaking at certain points in his life, so such hobbies may still occupy his time.
Day-Lewis is also married and has three children, so it’s likely that he spends quality time with them now that he has no acting commitments. The former actor rarely, if ever, makes public appearances or gives new interviews, so his personal life remains something of a modern mystery.
