James Ivory hopes to lure Daniel Day-Lewis out of retirement for next film

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Daniel Day-Lewis rarely fails to disappoint, which made it all the more upsetting when the talented actor announced his retirement several months before the release of Paul Thomas Anderson's PHANTOM THREAD. This isn't the first time that Daniel Day-Lewis has stepped away from the big-screen; following THE BOXER, he took a leave of absence for several years before Martin Scorsese was able to get him to return for GANGS OF NEW YORK. While speaking with Film Comment, CALL ME BY YOUR NAME screenwriter James Ivory revealed that he's holding out hope that he'll be able to lure Daniel Day-Lewis back as well.

James Ivory has received much acclaim over his long career with films such as A ROOM WITH A VIEW, HOWARD'S END, and THE REMAINS OF THE DAY, and Ivory has several new projects in the works, including an adaption of Peter Cameron's "Coral Glynn," which Ivory is hoping to direct as well. It's that project which Ivory hopes will interest Daniel Day-Lewis.

There is a sharp detective in the story which would suit Daniel Day-Lewis, just as there are very good parts for Helena Bonham Carter, Julian Sands, and Rupert Graves, now all in their fifties…Daniel has retired from film acting before, but came out to play Abraham Lincoln. Maybe he will also want to play our detective and will be ready to be coaxed out to join his old friends.

Will it happen? I doubt it. Unlike previous instances in which Daniel Day-Lewis has stepped away, the actor released a statement this time around to make sure that he followed through with it. "I knew it was uncharacteristic to put out a statement. But I did want to draw a line. I didn’t want to get sucked back into another project," Day-Lewis said. "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." As for why Daniel Day-Lewis felt that it was the right time to retire, he has admitted to not being entirely sure, but it does seem that he's lost some of the passion for the work. "I haven’t figured it out, but it’s settled on me, and it’s just there… I need to believe in the value of what I’m doing. The work can seem vital. Irresistible, even. And if an audience believes it, that should be good enough for me. But, lately, it isn’t," Day-Lewis said.

A synopsis of Coral Glynn via Amazon:

Coral Glynn arrives at Hart House, an isolated manse in the English countryside, early in the very wet spring of 1950, to nurse the elderly Mrs. Hart, who is dying of cancer. Hart House is also inhabited by Mrs. Prence, the perpetually disgruntled housekeeper, and Major Clement Hart, Mrs. Hart's war-ravaged son, who is struggling to come to terms with his latent homosexuality. When a child's game goes violently awry in the woods surrounding Hart House, a great shadow―love, perhaps―descends upon its inhabitants. Like the misguided child's play, other seemingly random events―a torn dress, a missing ring, a lost letter―propel Coral and Clement into the dark thicket of marriage.

Do you think Daniel Day-Lewis will ever return for "Coral Glynn" or any other role in the future?