Daniel Day-Lewis Claimed Seeing His “Father’s Ghost Every Night” Led To His Career-Ending Meltdown While Performing ‘Hamlet’
Before retiring from Hollywood’s glitzy and glamourous world, Daniel Day-Lewis proved to be an incredible actor with a career spanning almost four decades. He indisputably left an incredible mark on the entertainment industry.
However, a mysterious incident in 1989, while playing the role of Hamlet at the National Theatre led Daniel Day-Lewis to his career-ending meltdown as he claimed to have seen his deceased father’s ghost. The Gangs of New York star shared that it felt like he was having a conversation with his father that made him leave the stage immediately and unannounced.
Daniel Day-Lewis Saw His Father’s Ghost: Played Significant Role in His Career Breakdown
Known for his exceptional talent and craftmanship in projects like Lincoln, The Age of Innocence, In The Name of the Father, and other notable movies, Daniel Day-Lewis was an impeccable actor in the world of entertainment before he retired from the industry. However, little did fans know that a mystic 1989 incident almost became his career breakdown.
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in an interview with Time, Daniel Day-Lewis revealed encountering his deceased father’s ghost every night, and while playing Hamlet, he had to suddenly leave the stage without notice. The My Left Foot star said:
“To some extent, I probably saw my father’s ghost every night. Because of course if you’re working in a play like Hamlet, you explore everything through your own experience.”
While explaining that playing Hamlet reminded him of the father-son bond and played a significant role in influencing him, the actor added:
“That correspondence between father and son, or the son and the father who is no longer alive, played a huge part in that experience. So yes, of course, it was communication with my own dead father.”
Even though Day-Lewis clarified that it wasn’t an actual ghost of his father Cecil Day-Lewis, who was an Anglo-Irish poet and Poet Laureate. Daniel Day-Lewis added:
“But I don’t remember seeing any ghosts of my father on that dreadful night!”
This clarifies that encountering visions of his father was indeed emotional, but at the same time, it was a challenging and crucial part of his career as it allowed him to explore more.
Will Daniel Day-Lewis Ever Return To Acting?
Well, there have been no reports suggesting that Daniel Day-Lewis, the only one to ever win the Best Actor Oscar category three times will ever come back as he previously shared in his interview with W Magazine that he didn’t wish to delve into another project and desires to focus on other aspects of his life. The legendary actor explained:
“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.”
Talking about previous characters he played, made him want to quit acting due to which Day-Lewis had to take multiple breaks during his projects. So, after a deep thought, the actor finally decided to retire for his own good. Day-Lewis’s representative Leslee Dart also shared in his statement that Daniel Day-Lewis will never return to acting.
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