Daniel Day Lewis has opened up about the “great sadness” he experienced during his career, which led him to retire.
The legendary actor, best known for his roles including Christy Brown in ‘My Left Foot’, and Bill “the Butcher” Cutting in Martin Scorsese’s ‘Gangs of New York’ told W Magazine he made the difficult choice while filming his final movie, ‘Phantom Thread’.
“Before making the film, I didn’t know I was going to stop acting,” the actor said. “I do know that Paul and I laughed a lot before we made the movie. And then we stopped laughing because we were both overwhelmed by a sense of sadness”.
“That took us by surprise: We didn’t realize what we had given birth to. It was hard to live with. And still is.”
“The impulse to quit took root in me, and that became a compulsion. It was something I had to do,” he said. “Do I feel better? Not yet. I have great sadness. And that’s the right way to feel.”
“When I began, it was a question of salvation. Now, I want to explore the world in a different way.
The Oscar winner explained, “I dread to use the overused word ‘artist,’ but there’s something of the responsibility of the artist that hung over me. I need to believe in the value of what I’m doing. The work can seem vital. Irresistible, even. And if an audience believes it, that should be good enough for me. But, lately, it isn’t.”
His last film ‘Phantom Thread’ was shot in England with director Paul Thomas Anderson and Day-Lewis stars as a high society dressmaker who is stunned by the arrival of a young women who becomes his lover and muse.
The movie is coming out in selected theatres next month.
