Daniel Day-Lewis to Quit Acting

In a surprise announcement, three-time Oscar winner Daniel Day-Lewis is retiring from acting, Variety reports.

Day-Lewis will wrap up his four-decade career with one final film—possibly titled Phantom Thread—set to release on Dec. 25. Variety notes that Day-Lewis will help promote the film, per “a person familiar with his plans.”

The drama film will explore the 1950s London fashion scene and will reunite the 60-year-old star with director Paul Thomas Anderson. The two had previously collaborated with on 2007’s There Will Be Blood, for which Day-Lewis won his second Best Actor Oscar.

Although nobody has provided any concrete reason for the sudden retirement, Day-Lewis’ spokeswoman Leslee Dart confirmed the news in a 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.

Day-Lewis has starred in numerous, highly acclaimed films including Gangs of New York and In the Name of the Father. Considered quite possibly the best actor of his generation, Day-Lewis’ three Best Actor Oscar wins, for performances in My Left Foot and Lincoln (along with There Will Be Blood), have yet to be matched by any other actor.

One of the most well-known aspects of Day-Lewis’ work is his extreme dedication and method acting. Famously, he will stay in character even when the cameras are no longer rolling. This could be as innocuous as continuing to tell folksy stories as our 16th president, or as complicated as refusing to leave his wheelchair while portraying a cerebral palsy sufferer.

The notoriously selective actor appeared to have retired from acting back in the late ‘90s before Martin Scorsese was able to coax him back to the screen for Gangs of New York. Whether this new retirement “sticks” remains to be seen, but if Day-Lewis is to return, it surely won’t be for a Marvel film, as many had hoped. It’ll have to be something truly special.