--- title: Daniel Day-Lewis Makes First Comments About Retiring description: "It was something I had to do,” said the three-time Oscar winner canonical: https://time.com/5040442/daniel-day-lewis-retirement/ author: Entertainment Weekly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-11-29T05:00:37.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T18:22:43.648Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Daniel Day-Lewis Makes First Comments About Retiring og:description: "It was something I had to do,” said the three-time Oscar winner og:url: https://time.com/5040442/daniel-day-lewis-retirement/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd598a50907b30d85/6988e73097cdff6a206b3664/gettyimages-162544374.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 85th Annual Academy Awards - Arrivals og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Daniel Day-Lewis Makes First Comments About Retiring twitter:description: "It was something I had to do,” said the three-time Oscar winner twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd598a50907b30d85/6988e73097cdff6a206b3664/gettyimages-162544374.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 'Something I Had to do.' Daniel Day-Lewis Explains Why He Quit Acting by [Josh Glicksman / Entertainment Weekly](https://time.com/author/entertainment-weekly/) ## Josh Glicksman / Entertainment Weekly Nov 29, 2017 5:00 AM UTC  Actor Daniel Day-Lewis arrives at the Oscars at Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood, California on Feb. 24, 2013. Actor Daniel Day-Lewis arrives at the Oscars at Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood, California on Feb. 24, 2013.Jason Merritt—Getty Images by [Josh Glicksman / Entertainment Weekly](https://time.com/author/entertainment-weekly/) ## Josh Glicksman / Entertainment Weekly Nov 29, 2017 5:00 AM UTC When [Daniel Day-Lewis announced his retirement](http://ew.com/movies/2017/06/20/daniel-day-lewis-retires/) from acting earlier this year, many were left with questions regarding the sudden news. Now, thanks to a [recent interview with _W_](https://www.wmagazine.com/story/exclusive-daniel-day-lewis-giving-up-acting-phantom-thread), there are finally some answers from the man himself. “Before making the film, I didn’t know I was going to stop acting,” Day-Lewis said in the interview, referring to his forthcoming drama, _Phantom Thread_. “I do know that Paul \[Thomas Anderson\] 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 interview also revealed that Day-Lewis hasn’t seen _Phantom Thread_, and has no plans to do so. “I haven’t figured it out,” he said of why he decided to retire. “But it’s settled on me, and it’s just there. Not wanting to see the film is connected to the decision I’ve made to stop working as an actor. But it’s not why the sadness came to stay. That happened during the telling of the story, and I don’t really know why.” The three-time Oscar winner also explained why he chose to publicly announce his retirement. “I knew it was uncharacteristic to put out a statement,” Day-Lewis said. “But I did want to draw a line. I didn’t want to get sucked back into another project. 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.” Check out the trailer for _Phantom Thread_ above. The film arrives in theaters on Christmas Day. _This_ [_article_](http://ew.com/movies/2017/11/28/daniel-day-lewis-acting-retirement-phantom-thread/) _originally appeared on_ [_EW.com_](http://ew.com/)_._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5040442/daniel-day-lewis-retirement/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5040442/daniel-day-lewis-retirement/"},"headline":"'Something I Had to do.' 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