Daniel Day-Lewis addresses completely disappearing from Hollywood

Finally making his big return to the screen, Daniel Day-Lewis has addressed his complete disappearance from Hollywood.

Following his starring role as Reynolds Woodcock in the 2017 period romantic drama, Phantom Thread, the 68-year-old called it quits on acting.

“I need to believe in the value of what I’m doing,” he explained at the time.

Even in the build up to that film it seemed like Day-Lewis was taking on fewer and fewer roles with him having said he didn’t want it just feel like he was working only out of habit.

But it finally seems like he has somewhat ‘un-retired’ as he stars in Anemone which had its premiere at the New York Film Festival yesterday afternoon (28 September).

The project is actually the directorial debut of his son, Ronan Day-Lewis, who is also pretty excited to have his dad back on screen.

Ronan and Daniel Day-Lewis. (Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images for FLC)

The acting legend co-wrote the script with Ronan, as it follows him as recluse and former soldier Ray who has been living in isolation in the woods for two decades.

He is reunited with his brother (played by Sean Bean) who forces him to confront his past.

Brad Pitt serves as executive producer alongside Day-Lewis with Samantha Morton and Samuel Bottomley also appearing in the cast.

The star has been full of praise about working with his son as he told Variety: “Over the years, since Ronan was very, very small, we’ve worked on a lot of different things together.

“There was always a great ease in each other’s company, and this was really an extension of that. It was just a bigger toy box to play in.”

And Day-Lewis admitted that he decided to make his return to Hollywood because he wanted to work with his son.

“I never stopped loving the work,” he added.

He's making his return in Anemone. (Focus Features)

When it comes to what he has missed the most about acting during his years-long hiatus, Day-Lewis explained it was finding ‘my way into being part of the creation of a different world in collaboration with a group of people’.

Of course, his break since 2017 isn’t exactly the first time the Gangs of New York star has stepped back from acting though, having took a break following 1997’s The Boxer until the 2002 Martin Scorsese crime epic.

“Looking back on it now — I would have done well to just keep my mouth shut, for sure. It just seems like such grandiose gibberish to talk about. I never intended to retire, really,” he told Rolling Stone.

“I just stopped doing that particular type of work so I could do some other work. Apparently, I’ve been accused of retiring twice now. I never meant to retire from anything! I just wanted to work on something else for a while.”