Daniel Day-Lewis is finally coming out of his seven-year retirement! The English actor announced back in 2017, after his Oscar-nominated turn in The Phantom Thread, that he would retire from his craft, his second time doing so. However, last October, it was revealed that he will return to acting thanks to his middle son Ronan Day-Lewis and his directorial debut, which the actor will not only star in but he also co-wrote.
The star, 68, is a proud father to three sons, sharing his oldest with his longtime partner Isabelle Adjani, and his two younger sons with his current wife Rebecca Miller. And as it turns out, all three of them have followed in his footsteps in one way or another, although none as closely as Ronan.
As Daniel braces for a Hollywood comeback story with his son and their joint production, here's what you need to know about Ronan Day-Lewis, his early years as the son of industry veterans, his soaring career, and his upcoming feature directorial debut and collaboration, Anemone…
© Getty ImagesDaniel Day-Lewis and Rebecca Miller
Ronan's parents and early life
27-year-old Ronan Day-Lewis was born in June 1998 to Daniel and Rebecca, herself an author and filmmaker and the daughter of illustrious playwright Arthur Miller. He grew up in rural Ireland, where the couple had settled soon after their 1996 marriage. Throughout his childhood, he traveled with his parents often, even spending several months living in Marfa, Texas as a child.
Ronan's career in the creative arts began early, with him earning a BA degree from Yale University in 2020. His love for the arts was influenced by his parents, who took him to several galleries and museums as a child, with Ronan citing the American Museum of Natural History as a formative one from his childhood. He is currently based out of New York City, mostly working out of a studio space in Ridgewood, Queens.
© Getty ImagesRonan Day-Lewis out with his mom Rebecca
Ronan's career in art
While the middle Day-Lewis sibling is making a name for himself at the moment as a filmmaker, his main claim to fame is his career as a painter. His debut solo exhibition came in the summer of 2023 in New York City, developing his melancholic, other-worldly and often eerie style while studying at Yale, specifically describing one of his inspirations as "the creature" in a conversation with Artnet.
"I was in class making these unconscious drawings, sitting on the floor of a classroom," he recalled of its origin. "The teacher had a movie playing in the background. I was sketching and, at some point, a face emerged through a crude charcoal drawing. I wasn’t looking in a mirror, but I interpreted it as a self-portrait."
Ronan with his art
Ronan and art
"I couldn't quite put my finger on it though – a face and this elongated neck and the suggestion of a kind of pastoral environment, but nothing really definite," he continued. "Over the last few years, the form has suggested itself to me more fully." While his work has been on public display in a variety of galleries and exhibitions since 2021, he attributes the passage of time to the development of his signature style.
© Getty ImagesBudding filmmaker Ronan with his girlfriend
Ronan's work in film
After graduation, Ronan began honing his craft as a filmmaker, adopting his surrealist and romanticized style to his visuals even further. His early filmography includes a trilogy of videos commissioned for the Philip Glass album Les Enfants Terribles, and the short film The Sheep and the Wolf, which won Best Independent Short at the IFS film festival.
© Dimitrios KambourisDaniel with his family at a "She Came to Me" screening
Anemone
He directed an album video for an EP by David Chalmin in 2021, with the latter now serving as the composer for his upcoming directorial debut Anemone, which Ronan co-wrote with his father Daniel. Per a press release on Anemone: "Family bonds between fathers, sons and brothers are explored as complex relationships unfold through personal journeys and generational conflicts."
The film will premiere at the New York Film Festival later this fall, with its initial release in select theaters scheduled for October 3, followed by a wide release on October 10.
