Eight years after announcing his retirement, Daniel Day-Lewis is making a grand return to the silver screen in Anemone.
Having last appeared in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Phantom Thread in 2017, Day-Lewis released a statement officially declaring that “he would no longer be working as an actor”.
Now returning in a project co-written and directed by his son, Ronan Day-Lewis, the Oscar-winning actor’s latest film marks both a professional comeback and a deeply personal collaboration.
Set in 1980s Northern England, Anemone is a tense family drama that explores the relationships between fathers, brothers and sons and the impact of buried trauma.
Starring alongside Day-Lewis are Sean Bean, Samuel Bottomley, Safia Oakley-Green and Samantha Morton.
The film will premiere at the New York Film Festival in September, ahead of its UK release on November 7th.
A personal and poignant return
Day-Lewis is no stranger to working with his family. In 2005, he starred in The Ballad of Jack and Rose, directed by his wife, Rebecca Miller.
Day-Lewis’s collaboration with his son may signal a new and intimate chapter in the actor’s career, one that is more about exploring generational storytelling and shared legacy.
The film follows two estranged brothers who reunite after decades of silence. The official logline for the film states:
“The Northern England–set film begins as a middle-aged man (Bean) sets out from his suburban home on a journey into the woods, where he reconnects with his estranged hermit brother (Day-Lewis).
“Bonded by a mysterious, complicated past, the men share a fraught, if occasionally tender relationship—one that was forever altered by shattering events decades earlier.”
From the trailer, the film appears to be wrapped in a slow-burning, psychological tension between the brothers, while delving into the surreal – suggesting a film that is as emotionally rich as it is visually compelling.
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A third act for Day-Lewis’s career?
Anemone could very well kickstart a third renaissance in Day-Lewis’s remarkable career.
Known for his selective roles and long absences between films, this isn’t his first return after walking away from the profession.
Following a scintillating run of performances in the 1980s and 90s (My Beautiful Laundrette, My Left Foot, In the Name of the Father, The Age of Innocence), Day-Lewis quietly called time on his career after starring in The Boxer in 1997.
The actor spent several years in Italy, learning the craft of shoemaking and plying his trade as a cobbler.
It wasn’t until 2002 that Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio convinced him to return to acting, getting him to star as Bill the Butcher in Gangs of New York.
Day-Lewis went on to attract further acclaim with performances in There Will Be Blood, Lincoln, and Phantom Thread – establishing himself as one his generations finest actors before stepping away from acting once again.
What makes Day-Lewis so special as an actor?
Daniel Day-Lewis is renowned not only for his talent, but for his all-consuming method acting approach.
The actor dedicates himself to each of his roles, disappearing into his characters in ways few have ever rivalled.
For The Boxer, he trained under former world-champion, Barry McGuigan, nearly everyday for three years to prepare for the role.
On the set of My Left Foot, he refused to break character as Christy Brown, remaining in a wheelchair for the duration of filming and even broke two ribs from contorting his body to portray the artist.
Perhaps his most extreme example is Last of the Mohicans. Day-Lewis prepared for the role by living off the land and even learnt how to build a canoe.
For his efforts, he is the only male actor to have three wins in the Best Actor category at the Oscars, winning for My Left Foot, There Will Be Blood and Lincoln.
He’s also been nominated for Phantom Thread, Gangs of New York, and In the Name of the Father.
A return that feels like an event
Daniel Day-Lewis has never been drawn to the ordinary. His rare screen appearances feel more like events than roles, and Anemone appears to be no exception.
An intimate, emotionally ambitious film made with his son, it offers a fitting setting for an actor who has always sought depth over quantity, and meaning over fame.
If Anemone truly marks the next chapter in his remarkable career, it may also be one of his most personal, and potentially, most powerful yet.
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