Daniel Day Lewis is ‘perfectly happy’ to applaud for Gary Oldman at award shows

Daniel Day-Lewis attends a press conference for ‘Phantom Thread’

It actually pains me a little to think that Phantom Thread could be Daniel Day Lewis’s last on-screen performance. That’s what he says – that he’s retiring from being an actor, that Phantom Thread is his last film. Maybe he’ll change his mind in a few years and he’ll end up on a Hulu series, but I doubt it. What also pains me is that DDL isn’t being discussed as a real contender for Best Actor this year. Gary Oldman has been sweeping all of the Best Actor awards, and Oldman’s probably close to a sure thing for the Oscar. Well, apparently that’s fine with DDL. When he was doing press in Athens, Greece, DDL talked about his retirement and why he’s fine with seeing Oldman win awards:

Why he decided to quit acting: “If I knew the answer I would probably avoid trying to answer it anyway, but as it happens I can’t answer the question. I don’t fully understand it but it came to me with a sense of conviction and so I choose to move forward in acceptance of that rather than struggling with it. But I just feel it’s time to explore the world in a different way now.”

His character in Phantom Thread: “I‘m only learning by speaking to people that apparently I’ve been playing an absolute prick in this film and I‘m really sorry to hear that, because, who thinks of themselves in that way?”

Whether he cares about winning awards for Phantom Thread: “Take a guess,” he quipped. “I‘m perfectly happy to do the rounds and applaud Gary at every event I go to. Gary has done very fine work for many years and he’s been recognized for it now so I‘m delighted for it. I don’t have to worry about it now just sit back and relax.”

[From Reuters]

I know what he means, of course, but I still think this had a shady undercurrent: “Gary has done very fine work for many years and he’s been recognized for it now…” NOT “Gary’s work in this particular film is award-worthy.” He’s saying Gary Oldman is getting an Oscar more for his body of work rather than this particular performance. Which is probably true. Anyway, sure, I truly believe DDL doesn’t care about winning. Which is exactly why he should win!!

Daniel Day-Lewis attends a press conference for ‘Phantom Thread’

Photos courtesy of WENN.

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27 Responses to “Daniel Day Lewis is ‘perfectly happy’ to applaud for Gary Oldman at award shows”

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  1. Eleonor says:

    I have always had the feeling he doesnt’ care about awards at all.
    He is not Leo who hustled to get an Oscar for years, he gives me the impression he hates the award circus, he does because of contracts, because he is a pro, but nominees, oscars, etc. etc. are not worth it.
    An God he still is one of the most charming men around.

    • Indiana Joanna says:

      Agree, he doesn’t care about the high schoolish, most popular person awards that Hollywood celebrates every year.

      He just wants to do good work. And he always does.

      • JosieH says:

        Disagree completely. If he didn’t care, he wouldn’t even bother to show up. Awards season is grueling – nobody is going through that unless they care about the recognition.

    • QueenB says:

      Deep down they all care. You dont get on stage and in movies if you dont want some recognition. He may be more evolved in the sense that he wont play diry to get a show business award but he still cares.

    • Susan says:

      He does, he campaigned for lincoln.

    • Sunglass Aready says:

      Great Actor!

  2. Mia4s says:

    I don’t think it’s shady I think it’s the truth. Like 95% of the time the Oscar is for a body of work. (Unless anyone can seriously look me in the eye and say Scent of a Woman was Al Pacino’s best work….or Paul Newman’s greatest performance was Colour of Money…or Russell Crowe was better in Gladiator than he was in the Insider…or Denzel Washington’s in Training Day was better than he was in Malcolm X and The Hurricane) If people haven’t figured out by now what the Oscars really are and are not then I don’t know what to tell them.

    • IMHO says:

      All of that is so true. You covered it all.

    • Surely Wolfbeak says:

      Agreed, but Paul Newman’s performance in Color of Money was pretty great, and I think he deserved it that year (the exception that proves the rule of best actor as lifetime achievement award).

    • JosieH says:

      Jimmy Stewart’s Oscar for The Philadelphia Story has long been seen as a make-up for not winning for Mr. Smith Goes to Washington the previous year, so this stuff’s been going on for a very long time.

    • lsb says:

      Well an Oscar is meant to be for the best performance in that year. Which means that in theory, any of these people just had to be better than anyone else that year, not themselves in prior years.

      I don’t know movies very well, but I think that at least some of those performances were amongst the highlights of the year.

  3. lightpurple says:

    He gives a strong, mesmerizing performance of a character who, as he says, is an absolute prick, in a film that is superbly acted, with lovely cinematography and exquisite costumes. And I hated every single second of it while trying desperately to like it.

  4. minx says:

    lol at DDL “ending up on a Hulu series.”

  5. Kate says:

    DDL you are one of the finest men I’ve ever see. Onscreen and off. Gorgeous and uber talented…yum.

  6. AnnaKist says:

    I agree with Eleonor and Indiana Joanna – he’s an absolute pro who always gives 100%, and it always shows. Awards are not why he’s taken the path he has. God, I am not even going to apologise – I love this gent.

  7. JosieH says:

    Phantom Thread is far and away a better film than the pedestrian Darkest Hour. Still, Oldman gave the performance of the year. It’ll be an Oscar well deserved.

    Oh, and Vicky Krieps totally out-acted Day-Lewis. She got snubbed of a nomination.

  8. msd says:

    I know people think he’ll come back because there are plenty of examples of others who say they’re retired and then re-emerge a couple of years later but I’m not so sure. He could have just taken a break for a few years, as he’s done before. He seems sure about not acting anymore. And he seems to stick to what he says he’ll do.

    Reminds me of when he quit theatre abruptly half way through a performance of Hamlet. In fact, I wonder if he had a similar experience on Phantom Thread. Something eerie and personal that left him feeling empty? The scene in the movie where he was ill, saw his dead mother in the room and spoke to her felt very meta, considering the legend of him seeing his father’s ghost on stage.

    • Vesta says:

      I too think he’s really done with acting; he’s not the one to make this kind of decision lightly and it must’ve been a very profound feeling.
      I know I will miss him.

  9. Tig says:

    Totally agree that Phantom Thread was beautiful to look at, but it was an awful movie. If this is truly DDL’s swan song, he is definitely going out on a low note. His character is pretty stock-the self-centered “genius” a&$hole. If he wins Best Actor for this, it’ll definitely be for his body of work.

  10. smee says:

    Terry Gross interviewed Paul Thomas Anderson the other day and it sounded like he plans to try to get DDL to make another film in…. a while. I hope he can do it! They’re a magic combo. It would make me super happy of anyone associated with Phantom Thread gets an Oscar. I loved the film and couldn’t stop thinking about it afterwards (which, sorry to say, did not happen after seeing Darkest Hour). And I’m prejudiced against “alleged” women abusers 🙁

  11. Ferdinand says:

    I’m still rooting for Timothée. I know this is a long shot but his performance was the best an actor could give this year.
    And Chalamet has been sweeping prices at critics awards. Just the big ones are going to Oldman.

    Anyways, here’s to hoping that Chalamet will go on to great things in the near future

  12. M.A.F. says:

    “He’s saying Gary Oldman is getting an Oscar more for his body of work rather than this particular performance”

    Hasn’t that been the way for years now? Amy Adams should have won the Oscar years ago but when she finally does, it will be for a far less superior performance and more of for her body of work.

    Edit: Mia4s summed it up nicely as well.

  13. Verbellion says:

    Glad he’s being cool about it, but Gary Oldman is gross. It makes me sad to say that because I was such a big fan for such a long time. But I hope he doesn’t win anything.

  14. Shappalled says:

    Films are not about awards or opening weekends. If you think they are you’re missing the point.

  15. jferber says:

    Well, Lewis is stupid to say this and I expected better of him.