EXCLUSIVE: Daniel Day-Lewis' Greatest Career Regret Revealed — And It's Nothing to Do With His Performances
Daniel Day-Lewis is looking at more Oscars gold with his comeback film.
Sept. 19 2025, Published 5:00 p.m. ET
Daniel Day-Lewis has told pals his biggest professional regret is not a role he took on or turned down – but the way he repeatedly declared he was walking away from acting, only to be seen as moany and precious about it, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The 68-year-old star, who has won three Academy Awards for best actor, famously announced his retirement in 2017 after the release of Phantom Thread. Now, as he returns to the screen in Anemone, directed by his 27-year-old son Ronan, Day-Lewis has publicly said he never truly intended to quit and wishes he had "kept his mouth shut" instead of issuing dramatic proclamations.
Day-Lewis Should Have 'Shut Up'
Now that he's back on the big screen, Day-Lewis confessed he wishes he would have 'shut up' about retiring.
A source also claimed: "Daniel knows the work is what he'll be remembered for, but he also knows people joke more about his retirements than his Oscars. He's been telling his inner circle he hates that he came across as moany, like he was some tortured genius who couldn't handle the spotlight.
"That's not how he sees himself, and he really regrets feeding that perception. It is, in fact, his biggest career regret."
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Day-Lewis recently reflected: "Looking back on it now – I would have done well to just keep my mouth shut, for sure. It just seems like such grandiose gibberish to talk about. I never intended to retire, really. I just stopped doing that particular type of work so I could do some other work."
The Lincoln star has long been known for immersing himself completely in roles – from his turn as Abraham Lincoln in 2012 to his portrayal of a haute couture designer in Phantom Thread.
The iconic actor has made his return with 'Anemone.'
That intensity, he has acknowledged, left him drained. But those close to him insist his repeated public declarations of retirement have become a bigger source of embarrassment than the exhaustion itself.
"He can laugh about it now, but the truth is he's mortified," another insider claimed. "He feels like he made himself look precious. He says it's the one thing in his career he'd do differently, because every time he tried to 'retire,' it only made people roll their eyes. That's not the legacy he wants."
Day-Lewis told W magazine in 2017 that he had decided because he needed to make the decision more definite.
He Needed Space
The film is directed by his son.
"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," he said at the time.
Now, with Anemone set for release, he is keen to reframe that narrative.
Sources close to him say he has spoken candidly about wishing he had kept his decisions private rather than issuing what looked like theatrical declarations.
"Daniel's said the only thing he truly regrets is not just quietly stepping away when he needed space," our source claimed. "Instead, he turned it into headlines, and he knows that made him look like he was craving attention.
He wants people to understand it was never about drama – it was just about needing time.
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The movie star is looking at another Oscar nomination to add to his resume.
"For Day-Lewis, the collaboration with Ronan has provided both a creative spark and a chance to put those regrets behind him. Working with Ro, that furnace just lit up," he said. "And it was, from beginning to end, just pure joy to spend that time together with him."
