Actor Daniel Day-Lewis made a rare public appearance as he attended the New York Film Festival with his son Ronan, 27, for the premiere of their film Anemone. Daniel has been married to filmmaker and novelist Rebecca Miller since 1996. The couple live a quiet life in Wicklow, Ireland and have two children together: Ronan and Cashel. Daniel also has a son, Gabriel-Kane, from a previous relationship with actress Isabelle Adjani. The father and son also spoke on a panel on September 26 following Anemone's first screening for press at the Festival, where Daniel explained why he returned to his craft after announcing his retirement in 2017.
"I made a [expletive] fool of myself by announcing that I was going to stop working, and probably a bigger fool of myself coming back," Daniel joked. "But to deny myself the possibility of working with Ronan just to stand on my pride, I think that would've been probably a worse decision than just, well, I said that, so I'm sticking to it."
The Gangs of New York actor also shared that he felt he wasn’t suited to acting due to the limelight actors are often thrust under, and the focus on their private lives.
© Getty Images for FLC"I had long periods where I thought I'm not well suited. The work was always very precious to me - it was like food and drink. But I think I have it in common with a lot of actors, that I'm very ill suited for the life around it... the public aspect of it,” he explained.
© Getty Images for FLC"We seem to be begging for attention just by virtue of the fact we're doing that work, but it never really occurs to you that you can't switch that attention off at will," he added.
"I was always ill at ease with the public aspect of the life. I thought I'd get used to it and I never really did. And so it left me wondering if I wasn't just better off keeping out of it."
© Getty Images for FLCAnemone brings the Oscar-winning actor back to the big screen for his first movie role since Phantom Thread in 2017. The movie is Ronan's feature debut as a writer-director, with Daniel co-writing the script.
According to an official synopsis, the film is based on: “Family bonds between fathers, sons and brothers are explored as complex relationships unfold through personal journeys and generational conflicts."
© Variety via Getty ImagesThe actor has three Academy Awards for Best Actor for his roles as Christy Brown in My Left Foot (1989), an oil tycoon in There Will Be Blood (2007), and Abraham Lincoln in Lincoln (2012).
