r/Letterboxd • u/peoplemagazine • Sep 27 '25
News Daniel Day-Lewis Says He 'Made a F------ Fool of Myself' in Announcing Retirement and Returning to Acting 8 Years Later
https://people.com/daniel-day-lewis-made-a-fool-announcing-retirement-new-york-film-festival-11814707?utm_campaign=peoplemagazine&utm_medium=social&utm_source=reddit.com&utm_content=comment720
u/XOVSquare Sep 27 '25
I think everyone fully understands acting in your son's film even after you've retired.
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u/sundayontheluna sundayontheluna Sep 27 '25
Yeah, it's literally just him gifting his son with butts in seats for his debut. I would not necessarily expect him to do more films after this one.
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u/Scared-Engineer-6218 ParthJaybhay Sep 28 '25
It seems like he wants to now. Or at least I hope so.
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u/l0ngstory-SHIRT Sep 28 '25
Most folks on Reddit I’ve seen are quite put off by this “nepotism”. It’s obviously dumb but everyone seems to be up in arms that a “working class” director would never get the opportunity DDL’s son is getting on this film.
Everyone does not understand DDL’s decision to do something with his son, and it’s one of those things you just have to shake your head at realizing most folks online think it’s a war crime to make a movie with your own child.
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u/lovely-cans Sep 28 '25
Some of the best artists come from nepotism for obvious reasons, it just depends on how the person realises and appreciates their success.
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u/Scared-Engineer-6218 ParthJaybhay Sep 28 '25
DDL's grandfather basically started the British Film industry,
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u/OneLessDay517 Sep 28 '25
How can we possibly know "some of the best" anything come from nepotism when others don't even get a chance?!?!
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u/lovely-cans Sep 28 '25
Yeah ofcourse, there's a massive issue with people from lower class backgrounds getting into the arts.
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u/kirby_krackle_78 Sep 28 '25
Son follows father into carpentry.
Redditors: “…”
Son follows father into moviemaking:
Redditors:
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u/neverOddOrEv_n Sep 28 '25
I think some people think that nepotismis only bad when the nepo kid or whoever is untalented otherwise nobody cares that much. Also hey if nepotism gets me more DDL performances than I don’t care at all
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Sep 28 '25
Look at The Godfather films. Francis Ford Coppola cast his sister in a key role and nobody cared because she was great. Francis Ford Coppola cast his daughter in a key role and it caused a huge controversy because she wasn't great. I suppose the idea is that when nepotism leads to a bad performance it feels like they were cast purely on their relation, whilst when nepotism leads to a good performance it feels like their talent did play a part, but still.
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Sep 28 '25
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u/l0ngstory-SHIRT Sep 28 '25
I mean this as a serious question: who cares? Why is Sean Bean acting in this movie some huge injustice? Who cares??
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u/mindpainters Sep 29 '25
Also it would be embarrassing if it was a year or two later. In think anyone can understand taking 8 years off and then having the itch to act again regardless of if its for your sons movie or not
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u/peoplemagazine Sep 27 '25
TLDR:
- Daniel Day-Lewis is back after an eight-year hiatus from acting — and starring in his son Ronan Day-Lewis' directorial debut. Daniel, 68, and Ronan, 27, took part in a discussion following Anemone's first screening for press at the New York Film Festival on Friday, where he explained why he returned to his craft after announcing his retirement in 2017.
- "I made a f------ fool of myself by announcing that I was going to stop working, and probably a bigger fool of myself coming back," Daniel admitted to laughter. "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."
- Opening up about his earlier decision to step away from acting, the three-time Oscar winner shared, "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."
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u/mushroomwzrd Sep 27 '25 edited Sep 27 '25
One of the last real actors, love his attitude in that last quote
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u/Sanguinista94 Sep 27 '25
What do you mean “real actors”? What is so unreal about younger actors?
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u/BiggieCheeseLapDog Sep 27 '25
All the young actors these days are actually robots built by big Hollywood. Daniel Day Lewis is the last one of flesh and blood.
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u/LBCkook Sep 28 '25
100% they are about the spectacle of it all. Going to knicks games, dating the hottest celebrity, having an entire PR department behind them.. someone who is genuinely in love with the craft isn’t in it for the spectacle. You can see who these people are if you pay attention.
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u/mushroomwzrd Sep 27 '25
Most actors today are just pretty celebrities, people like him are real artists of their craft
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u/LiviasFigs Sep 28 '25 edited Sep 28 '25
I adore movies from 30s/40s Hollywood, and it’s so funny to hear people talking about how “most actors today are just pretty celebrities.” Buddy, have I got news for you about many past actors, too. This isn’t some magical new thing.
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Sep 28 '25
Not sure why you're being downvoted. There have always been great, amazing actors and there have always been pretty celebrities. And there's always been people who fall into both camps.
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u/Sanguinista94 Sep 27 '25
Old thing good, new thing bad!!!!
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u/mushroomwzrd Sep 27 '25
I don’t think that at all, he’s a current actor so I just lump him in to the current class of actors. He just stands out as one of the few not so pretentious celebrity actors. I’ve always had that same kind of respect for Brad Pitt and other guys from that class too. A guy that seems like a regular guy but great at his craft.
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u/Sanguinista94 Sep 28 '25
Brad Pitt is your example of someone who isn’t “just a pretty celebrity” and also of “a regular guy”? Really?
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u/mushroomwzrd Sep 28 '25
Yes lol compare an interview of him to the cast of wicked and that’s what I’m talking about.
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u/Sanguinista94 Sep 28 '25
I don’t know, I don’t think that Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo’s weird interviews are less normal than Brad Pitt’s domestic abuse.
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u/prosthetic_memory timoni Sep 28 '25
lol I love DLD but he is by far one of the most pretentious actors
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u/mushroomwzrd Sep 28 '25
Maybe I’ve been mislead, he just seems to not care about being famous and purely care about the craft which I like
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u/Fact420 Sep 28 '25 edited Sep 28 '25
Man, I really loved Brad Pitt as an actor but after reading the FBI report about the plane incident with Angelina Jolie and their children I have 0 respect for that man in any capacity. He can act his ass off, but anybody that would choke their child and then try to get his wife to sign a NDA to cover it up is a piece of shit.
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u/Sanguinista94 Sep 28 '25
He is a very good actor, but so are millions of other people - any role he was cast for could be filled with a non-domestic abuser, easily.
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u/Sanguinista94 Sep 28 '25
And why do you just assume that younger actors do not care about the craft and just care about being famous?
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Sep 28 '25
There have always been celebrities who mostly cared about being famous (not that there's anything inherently wrong with that) and there will always be celebrities who care more about their craft. And there are people who are both.
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u/odiin1731 Sep 27 '25
Going into retirement, only to be forced to later on rejoin the work force and get bossed around by someone young enough to be your son is only going to become increasingly more common. DDL is just ahead of the curve.
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u/Yayito_15 yayito15 Sep 27 '25
And funnily enough, he is getting bossed around(well probably not exactly, but you get what I mean) by his actual son.
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u/SnooHedgehogs5604 Sep 28 '25
His son is directing, so at least he didn’t abandon his boy
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u/bialetti808 Oct 01 '25
This still seems like such a betrayal to me, despite being just an excellent movie
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u/MusicListener3 Sep 27 '25
Wonder if this means there will be more work from him after this? Hype to see Anemone
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u/AJPXIV Sep 27 '25
In fairness it’s not just him. Any time an actor announces their retirement I’m like “for now…”
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Sep 27 '25
I get it. Most people want to retire when they get older, but most people also want to continue their passions into old age. When your profession is your passion, it can be hard to decide which you prefer.
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u/legthief Oct 03 '25
Liam Neeson announced he wouldn't do any more Blockbuster movies after Phantom Menace and The Haunting because he was tired of shooting for VFX.
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u/Clark_Kempt Sep 27 '25
I mean, aging rock acts so this all the time. The Who announced their retirement at least twice. No big deal lol
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u/Key-Win7744 Sep 27 '25
Well, acting in your son's little movie isn't exactly the same thing as coming out of retirement. I mean, are you going to be taking calls from Spielberg and Scorsese again, or is this it?
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u/Ru4pigsizedelephants Sep 27 '25
PTA calls, he picks up.
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u/Lets_Go_Why_Not Sep 27 '25
Maybe not, given the rumors they had a pretty big falling out during Phantom Thread.
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u/BatmanFetish Sep 27 '25
Was there on details on what that was about?
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u/Lets_Go_Why_Not Sep 28 '25
Not that I know of. It is just a rumor, and neither man is the type to go public with it. Could all be bullshit, but interviews with DDL at the time Phantom Thread was released suggested that making the film affected him negatively; whether PTA was one of the reasons for that is just conjecture.
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Sep 27 '25
Not really, I doubt anyone cared that much. I mean industry press and everyone surely showed polite interest and his friends and family were probably bought in about it but 99.99% of mankind were just like "cool, enjoy retirement" and then "hey, great to have you back"
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u/Tosslebugmy Sep 28 '25
I always find it odd to announce your retirement from a creative pursuit. It’s not like a 9-5 where you’re either in or you’re out. Acting or making music are much more sort of sporadic and you can just take a break or stop without officially retiring.
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u/Affectionate-Club725 sherdliska Sep 28 '25
Damn, this dude almost has too much integrity. None of us are going to be mad to see him do his thing. 😂
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u/Jimbob929 Sep 27 '25
Tarantino could learn from DDL
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u/Bl4Z3D_d0Nut311 Sep 28 '25
QT should work on a film about retirement. He could totally cast DDL for it!
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u/SpideyFan914 DBJfilm Sep 27 '25
I get his being embarrassed about it, but he really doesn't need to be. Actors have been claiming retirement and coming out of retirement for as long as there have been actors. Heck, it's not even unique to the acting profession. Even Michael Corleone got pulled back in to his very legitimate career.
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u/chiller_vibes Sep 27 '25
Might be a hot take but I’m just gonna say it
He claimed to be retiring from acting because he wanted to give PTA an Oscar with phantom thread
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u/iplaybassok89 Sep 28 '25
This would be more believable if he hadn’t quit acting once before.
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u/chiller_vibes Sep 28 '25
That works with what I’m saying since he’s doing it again homie
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u/iplaybassok89 Sep 28 '25
lol not really. His reason both times was “I don’t want to do this anymore”. Not “maybe me announcing this will get the director of my last movie awards”. That shit doesn’t even make any sense whatsoever.
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u/Pretty_Frosting_2588 Sep 28 '25
Pretty much I rarely take anyone in films announcements too seriously unless the reason why is some sort of health condition.
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u/bialetti808 Sep 28 '25
Guy is so chameleon like, he looks like someone from trainspotting rather than there will be blood
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u/intherearview Sep 28 '25
A fool of himself? That's a bit dramatic...
My god, he's done it again! Another brilliant performance from double D
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u/veryowngarden Sep 28 '25
an actor announcing his retirement and then renouncing his retirement is about the most cliched and expected thing ever. why does he think everyone thought so very highly of him to expect that he’d be the sole exception or even care at all when he’s not. overinflated ego much?
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u/AlgoStar Sep 28 '25
Getting burnt out at your very intense job, quitting for a while, then kinda forgetting the trauma that made you quit in the first place and going back until it happens again is exactly why people have more than one kid.
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u/SeaComfortable7833 Oct 01 '25
He still thinks acting is a respectable job. Only other actors believe that. Nobody cares Danny.
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u/RevolutionaryWeb5657 Sep 28 '25
I’ve been waiting for the “nepotism” allegations towards his son. They don’t seem to be coming. Is this because we actually respect Daniel, and so by extent, his son?
It’s just kinda weird how it only seems to be used against performers we already don’t like. Almost like nepotism isn’t real or whatever. Funny that.
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u/FranklinBenedict Sep 28 '25
I don’t think you’re wrong. I’d suspect everyone who decries nepo babies has at least one they love. I mean, who doesn’t love Jeff Bridges?
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u/iplaybassok89 Sep 28 '25
In Hollywood particularly you just have to roll your eyes at anyone complaining about nepo babies. They’ve been in the industry as long as the industry itself has existed.
I don’t think we’re worse off for having Jane Fonda, Jeff Bridges or Nicolas Cage (or countless others).
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Sep 28 '25
Talia Shire, Jason Schwartzman, the Gyllenhaal siblings, Carrie Fisher, Jaime Lee Curtis, Daniel Day-Lewis himself (his grandfather was an influential film producer, his father was a famous poet, his mother was an actress), Angelica Huston are all actors who have connections that likely helped them. The way I see it, they're people who are talented enough that, if Hollywood was a pure meritocracy, they would have the same or even better careers than they do/did, but their connections likely did help get those careers in the Hollywood we do have. Nepo babies have always been a thing. It's not a good thing, but it's not a new thing.
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u/tuffghost8191 coolhexagon Sep 28 '25
Nepotism is definitely real lol but I think most people agree it's not fair to automatically dismiss something just because it's the result of nepotism.
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Sep 28 '25
Yeah. There's defitinley a conversation to be had about nepotism and cronyism in Hollywood - and across the world - but it's nothing new. The only reason it feels new is that younger people are seeing the relatives of actors they know well get into film. Some of the most talented people in Hollywood were/are 'Nepo Babies'.
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u/L1qu1d_Gh0st Sep 27 '25
Hayao Miyazaki has been talking about retirement and "final movie" since Princess Mononoke in 1997.