By In totally unexpected news, Daniel Day-Lewis has decided to retire from acting. One of the finest actors of his generation, Day-Lewis’ last onscreen role will be in Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Phantom Thread, which comes out December 25th.
According to Variety, the 60-year-old actor gave no specific reasons for his decision to leave acting behind. Day-Lewis’ spokeswoman, Leslee Dart, provided the following statement:
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.
Obviously he has quit acting in order to pursue not-acting. In all seriousness, I hope this is not health-related.
Day-Lewis’ career has been full of memorable performances dating back into the 1980s. His breakthrough was 1989’s My Left Foot, for which he won his first Academy Award. Day-Lewis would also win Oscars for his performances in There Will Be Blood and Lincoln; he received Best Actor nominations for In the Name of the Father and Gangs of New York.
Day-Lewis will purportedly promote The Phantom Thread as the film gets closer to release. Perhaps more details will emerge then regarding this very sudden decision. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to rewatch The Unbearable Lightness of Being, The Last of the Mohicans, and The Boxer.
I’m going to need a lot of milkshakes.
[via Variety]