No other actor carries an air of mystique quite like Daniel Day-Lewis. Since stepping away from the Hollywood spotlight in 2017, the 68-year-old has remained largely out of the public eye – and it's clear his absence hasn't gone unnoticed by fans.
While the three-time Oscar-winning actor hasn’t appeared in a new film in recent years, his role as Johnny in the 1985 classic My Beautiful Laundrette is being revived this summer, with the film returning to cinemas across the UK and Ireland from 1 August. With a young Daniel back on our screens, HELLO! takes a closer look at his eight-year absence from acting.
© GettyStep back from Hollywood
Following his role in Paul Thomas Anderson's Phantom Thread in 2017, Daniel announced his shock retirement from acting. "All my life, I've mouthed off about how I should stop acting," he told W Magazine at the time. "I don't know why it was different this time, but the impulse to quit took root in me, and that became a compulsion."
He continued: "It was something I had to do."
© PADaniel portrayed the dressmaker Reynolds Woodcock in the romance meets crime movie. The star admitted that the character had influenced his decision to quit acting. "I dread to use the overused word 'artist,' but there’s something of the responsibility of the artist that hung over me," he shared.
"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…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."
Daniel's representative announced a statement sharing the news at the time. "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," they said.
Acting work
Throughout his filmmaking career, he has taken extended breaks, including two five-year gaps – one between 1997’s The Boxer and 2002’s Gangs of New York, and another between 2012’s Lincoln and 2017’s Phantom Thread.
However, Daniel briefly returned to screens in 2024 in the film Anemone. The work marked the directorial debut of his son Ronan Day-Lewis. Daniel and Ronan co-wrote the movie together, which was described as an exploration of "the intricate relationships between fathers, sons and brothers, and the dynamics of familial bonds".
© GettyDaniel had previously stepped away from the spotlight when he became a cobbler in Florence. The star served as an apprentice to the master craftsman Stefano Bemer. Daniel opened up about the experience during an interview for Gangs of New York and admitted that he gave up acting for a year to pursue the interest. "Yeah, I’m handy," he shared. "You give me a tool belt, I know what to do with it…it was something I felt immediately drawn towards and I discovered that my hands were good, that I could make things and I’ve always loved to do that."
Family life
The 68-year-old has been married to Rebecca Miller since 1996. The couple share three sons – Cashel, Ronan, and Gabriel-Kane. The family reside in Wicklow, with Daniel having kept a low profile in the last seven years.
© Dimitrios KambourisThe actor graced the National Board of Review gala in January to honour Martin Scorsese.
Daniel Day-Lewis's last appearances
© Variety via Getty ImagesThe National Board of Review Awards Gala
© BAFTA via Getty ImagesEE British Academy Film Awards
© Dimitrios KambourisNew York screening
© Getty Images for Universal
