Daniel Day-Lewis to end acting retirement for a movie directed by his son

Daniel Day-Lewis is returning to the acting world seven years after his retirement to play in a film directed by his son Ronan Day-Lewis.

The 67-year-old actor had quit acting in 2017 after starring in Paul Thomas Anderson’s film Phantom Thread, largely staying out of the public eye since then.

Titled Anemone, the new project is written by both father and son. It marks Ronan’s directorial debut and will also star Sean Bean, Samantha Morton, Samuel Bottomley and Safia Oakley-Green.

According to US independent production company Focus Feature, the film “explores the intricate relationships between fathers, sons and brothers, and the dynamic of familial bonds.”

Day-Lewis announced his retirement in 2017, telling W Magazine at the time: “All my life, I’ve mouthed off about how I should stop acting, and I don’t know why it was different this time, but the impulse to quit took root in me, and that became a compulsion. It was something I had to do.”

The British actor had already expressed a desire to step away from acting in 1997 after staring in The Boxer, disappearing from the silver screen for five years before returning for Martin Scorsese’s Gangs Of New York. At the time, he’d told The Guardian: “I didn’t really want to be involved with films. I just wanted some time away from it all. I need that quite often.”

Ronan Day-Lewis, 26, was raised in Ireland and is a painter who has previously exhibited his works in New York. His first international solo exhibition is set to debut Tuesday in Hong Kong.

“We could not be more excited to partner with a brilliant visual artist in Ronan Day-Lewis on his first feature film alongside Daniel Day-Lewis as his creative collaborator,” said Peter Kujawski, chair of Focus Features. “They have written a truly exceptional script, and we look forward to bringing their shared vision to audiences alongside the team at Plan B.”