‘I never used the word retirement’ – Daniel Day-Lewis is back on screen after a seven-year break
Lizo MzimbaEntertainment correspondent, the London Film Festival
PA Media
Daniel Day-Lewis at the premiere of his new film Anemone
Daniel Day-Lewis may have returned to acting after a seven-year absence, but the actor has said he has not been inundated with new scripts.
The 68-year-old was last seen on film in 2017’s Phantom Thread, after which his agent released a statement saying he “will no longer be working as an actor”.
But he was tempted back to the screen by the opportunity to work with his son Ronan, who directed and co-wrote his new film Anemone.
Asked if he had been swamped with new scripts now that he’s returned, Day-Lewis told BBC News: “No, there’s been no inundation. I’m definitely open to the idea of working.
“And just to put the record straight, I never used the word retirement. People have happily used it on my behalf.
“But I felt I needed to work at something else for a while, which I did. I’m glad to be back doing this, and I’m certainly open to doing it again.”
Before stepping back from acting in 2017, Day-Lewis was one of cinema’s most sought-after actors, having won three Oscars and starred in films such as Gangs of New York, There Will Be Blood and Lincoln.
The actor and his son Ronan, 27, co-wrote the script for Anemone, which premiered at the London Film Festival on Tuesday.
Universal Pictures
Daniel Day-Lewis and director Ronan Day-Lewis discussing a scene
Day-Lewis plays Ray, a former soldier living in isolation in the woods, who is sought out by his brother during a family crisis.
“It was just the idea of working with Ronan,” the actor said. “We just thought we’d find a way of doing something together. So it was a very open and unspecific impulse that started it.”
Daniel says he and Ronan quickly found that their ideas were well aligned early in the writing process.
“We very soon found our way into some common ground. The idea of a story about brothers, and it went on from there.”
‘Brotherly love’
The film sees the three-time Oscar winner’s character Ray dealing with his difficult past in the military by cutting himself off from society.
Years later, his brother finds him, and tries to persuade him to come home to reunite with his ex-wife and son, who is in trouble after assaulting another young man.
That kind of fraternal family dynamic was something that Ronan Day-Lewis was keen to explore, when writing the script with his father.
“I have two brothers,” he explains. “And for a few years before we had started working together on anything, I’d had the vague idea of wanting to find a way into that, as a kind of archetype in the story.
“Once we both locked into that and realised that we independently had that interest. It was really just a matter of finding these characters and then just following them into the dark.”
Universal Pictures
Sean Bean and Daniel Day-Lewis in Anemone
Ray’s brother Jem is played by Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings star Sean Bean.
The British actor says it was a pleasure acting opposite someone of the calibre of Day-Lewis, whom he matches beat for beat in some of the film’s most intense scenes.
“Yeah, I was alright,” laughs Bean. “He’s great to work with. He’s very welcoming, he’s very generous.
“He’s very focused, obviously. We all know his approach to acting, which is admirable. And I just felt very comfortable with that relationship we had together.”
‘New themes and emotions’
Throughout his career, Day-Lewis has demonstrated his range with a wide variety of roles. Did this one have new themes or emotions that he hadn’t tackled before?
“That’s a really interesting question,” he says, pausing to consider it for a few moments.
“I’d say yes, for sure. I think what happened inadvertently was it also became an exploration about the generations of relationships between fathers and sons.
“And that’s something, for my own personal reasons, has preoccupied me since childhood. And so I think that certainly became something that was really new and interesting to me.”
Anemone is released in UK cinemas on 7 November.
