Daniel Day-Lewis has been an exceptional actor with a career spanning almost four decades. The star has given remarkable performances in films like Lincoln, The Age of Innocence, Gangs of New York, and others. The British actor has also received numerous accolades including, three Academy Awards and two Golden Globes. The star announced his retirement in 2017. However, he quit stage acting way before because of a spooky reason.
Recently, Day-Lewis was an active theatre artist in his early days, and even after attaining success in movies, he was involved in theatres. However, the star suddenly walked off a play and never returned.
Daniel Day-Lewis on taking retirement from acting
There Will Be Blood actor surprised his fans when he announced his retirement from the acting industry in 2017. The actor shared in an interview that he did not decide in haste or on a whim. He shared that he had been thinking about the same for some years.
In a conversation with Variety, Lewis shared,
“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.”
In another interview with W Magazine, he shared that his method acting was somewhat the reason for quitting,
“I didn’t want to get sucked back into another project.“
He shared that the previous characters he’d played made him want to exit from the field. He had also taken a break of a few years between 1997 to 2000.
Lewis explained,
“there’s something of the responsibility of the artist that hung over me. I need to believe in the value of what I’m doing.”
He added that he hadn’t seen Phantom Thread, which was connected to his decision to retire. He shared that his relationship with the film and character Reynolds Woodcock was difficult and overwhelming sadness.
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Daniel Day-Lewis saw his father’s ghost during a play
In 1989, the actor played the role of Hamlet at the National Theater, where he had allegedly seen his father’s ghost.
Stage Milk shared that it seemed like Daniel Day-Lewis felt was having a conversation with his father, while the play was going on.
As per the report,
“Unnerved, he walked off the stage and never returned,”
Day-Lewis confirmed the rumors in his interview with Time,
“To some extent, I probably saw my father’s ghost every night. Because of course if you’re working in a play like Hamlet, you explore everything through your own experience.”
Day-Lewis shared that it was a possibility that the story of Hamlet might have reminded them about his bond with his father. He added,
“That correspondence between father and son, or the son and the father who is no longer alive, played a huge part in that experience. So yes, of course, it was communication with my own dead father.”
Daniel Day-Lewis’ father was a Cecil Day-Lewis was an Anglo-Irish poet and Poet Laureate. He had also written numerous detective novels under the pseudonym of Nicholas Blake, which feature the fictional detective Nigel Strangeways. The writer passed away when Day-Lewis was only 15 years old.
Where is Daniel Day-Lewis presently?
As per reports by Ireland.com, the actor has moved to a secluded village and lives a simpler life with his wife and sons. The source revealed,
“What Day-Lewis did – just when most actors would have set up camp for Hollywood domination – was take two years off and move to a modest Georgian house in a tiny village in County Wicklow. Wicklow has been home to Day-Lewis for 19 years now, and is where he lives with his wife Rebecca Miller and their two sons.”
Seems like Day-Lewis does not prefer city life, and has no interest in returning to Hollywood.
Source-W Magazine
