Daniel Day-Lewis Confirmed to Be "Done With Acting"; Says Nothing Is Good on Streaming Services

Daniel Day-Lewis retired from acting back in 2017 after starring in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Phantom Thread, and in case you’re wondering if he might come out of retirement, the answer is no. His longtime director and collaborator Jim Sheridan confirmed the actor is serious about his retirement and that he’s “done with acting.”

Sheridan directed Day-Lewis in films such as My Left Foot (1989), In the Name of the Father (1993) and The Boxer (1997). During an interview with ScreenDaily, Sheridan said:

“He says he’s done. I keep talking to him. I’d love to do something with him again. He’s like everybody else. He opens up the streamers and there’s seven thousand choices, none of them are good. Film has been moved out of the public domain into a private domain – you have a remote, you can stop it. It’s not the same experience. It’d be great to see Daniel coming back and doing something because he’s so good.”

I would love nothing more than for Day-Lewis to star in a great movie again. Even Martin Scorsese hopes to direct him again one day, but it’s probably not going to happen. The filmmaker said at the time, “We did two films together. It was one of the greatest experiences of my life, I must say. Maybe there’s time for one more.”

When the actor initially retired, a spokesperson 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. ”

Later reflecting on his decision in a past interview, Day-Lewis said that “before making [Phantom Thread], I didn’t know I was going to stop acting.”

As for why the actor retired and the statement he put out, he said: “I knew it was uncharacteristic to put out a statement. But I did want to draw a line. I didn’t want to get sucked back into another project. 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.”

He’s definitely missed because there are very few actors in Hollywood that are as talented as Day-Lewis was.