Daniel Day-Lewis: “The process needs to be a joyful thing” – LFF Screen Talk

Daniel Day-Lewis is a man of increasing rarity. He’s starred in just seven films since the turn of the millennium, and public appearances are scarce. As the three-time Oscar winner is so picky with his roles, his willingness to speak to a sold-out BFI Southbank was a singular treat. There was quiet electricity in his presence.

There was nothing formal about his introduction: Day-Lewis simply appeared on stage with film critic Mark Kermode to thunderous applause. Despite his well-known aversion to interviews, the actor held himself with a measured sense of fulfilment. Alluding to his reclusive nature, Day-Lewis quipped with a knowing smile “I’m still alive!”, before taking a seat and enlightening his audience on a storied and celebrated career.

The discussion opened with Anemone, Day-Lewis’s latest film, directed by his son Ronan. In his own words, it’s about two brothers who “after 20 years of estrangement… don’t know who the other is anymore.”

For Day-Lewis, who co-wrote the script with Ronan, the film – his first since 2017’s Phantom Thread – was an opportunity to collaborate with his son: “It began with a pure wish to do some work with Ronan. I had a sadness at the thought that I wouldn’t get to work with him.” What also interested the actor was the film’s use of silence. Despite being raised by a poet, Day-Lewis has “always been fascinated with the space between the words”. He also drew inspiration for this role from the unadorned style of American writer Kent Haruf, particularly his books Plainsong and Eventide.

Day-Lewis went on to describe, in fluid detail, his understanding of the military practices he employed while preparing to play the hermit-like Ray Stoker. As Kermode drew attention to Day-Lewis’s famed dedication, there were beautiful musings from the actor on his method: “The process needs to be a joyful thing,” he noted. “It’s important to keep reminding [ourselves] that we’re playing games for a living… it’s joyous.”

My Left Foot (1989) is the famous early instance of Day-Lewis’s ‘method’ sensibilities. Playing writer and painter Christy Brown, who was born with cerebral palsy and could control only his left foot, the actor developed unbelievable motor skills purely for the results on screen. “I had to find my way into it with very gentle steps,” Day-Lewis said. All with the use of his left foot: “I started to write to people…and I began to work, to make paintings.”

The conversation then led to Day-Lewis’s background in theatre, as he spoke about the hierarchy among actors in that environment: “The theatre is the superior form… then cinema, a bit dodgy. Then television… really? Secretly, most of us wanted to make movies.”

He expressed dissatisfaction with the elitism among theatregoers and the belief that “the theatre is an elite cultural form… it always bugged the hell out of me.”

Day-Lewis’s break into cinema came through sheer luck: “In Britain, as a young actor, you weren’t going to make movies, there wasn’t a film industry.” He believes the crucial ingredient to a successful film is the relationship between director and actor: “It’s the epicentre of the working experience at its best. That’s a thing of beauty. I had that with Jim Sheridan. That sustained us. It’s a form of deep nourishment.”

Toward the end of the talk, Kermode invited Ronan on stage – to obvious pride and a grateful beam from the older Day-Lewis. Of his father’s return to the screen, Ronan said: “It takes the edge off… with family, you always have a level of comfort. I was always concerned with his first time working again to be as positive as possible.”

It seemed both men had a great sense of gratification in working together. “We already had a wonderful, strong friendship,” noted Daniel. “If you’re lucky enough, your kids will still want to be around you when they’re up and running. We’re very lucky our kids want to. It was just a joyful thing to have that time together.”

As things were drawing to a close, Kermode posed an intriguing question about critical opinion: “If I were making films, I think, on principle, I’d despise film critics. Do you worry about the film going into the world?”

With a final flash of composed wisdom, Day-Lewis replied: “Of course, we yearn – when our work is done – for it to be meaningful… if it really means something to us, perhaps it’ll mean something to other people.”

Daniel Day-Lewis was talking at the 69th BFI London Film Festival.