Daniel Day-Lewis is the greatest actor of his generation. And Paul Thomas Anderson might be the best director of his own. They both are three-name dudes. Oh, and they also last collaborated on what many consider the best movie of this century. They, as a team, are a pretty big deal.
So it was massive news for anyone who appreciates very good movies that the two are teaming up on the forthcoming Phantom Thread. And they've worked so closely on this film, that Anderson says he wrote the script alongside Day-Lewis, who helped craft his own character: a work-obsessed dressmaker in 1950s London.
So, it's somewhat shocking that in an artistic relationship this intimate and intense, Day-Lewis never mentioned to Anderson that they were working on his final movie. In June, Day-Lewis announced that he's retiring from acting after Phantom Thread. But this was also news to Anderson, who finished shooting the movie in April. As Anderson told Entertainment Weekly when asked if he knew Day-Lewis was retiring during filming:
No, it was never discussed. I think he's been saying that he's wanted to do it for a long time. I do remember him telling me that he really thought about retiring after I think it was The Boxer. Hopefully, it's something that he'll reconsider. In the meantime, he's left it all out on the field, I like to think.
I like to think that Day-Lewis didn't want to put the pressure of his last movie on the rest of the cast and crew. What a gentleman.
For a man who takes his work as seriously as Day-Lewis, the fact that this movie is worthy of being his last bodes well for how he views his own performance. If it's good enough for Day-Lewis, and good enough that Anderson considers it a mic drop, then it might be a brilliant farewell performance. But Anderson does provide a glimmer of hope there: Maybe Day-Lewis will grace us with more Oscar-winning performances after all.
