Daniel Day-Lewis is joined by director son Ronan, 27, at the premiere of their film Anemone as actor returns to the screen for the first time in eight years

Anemone is Ronan’s directorial debut and father and son co-wrote the script together. It is Daniel’s first film since Phantom Thread in 2017. 

The actor, 68, cut a dapper figure for the event in a black suit which he wore with a white shirt and grey tie.

Ronan, 27, also opted for a black suit which he paired with a bright red T-shirt and silver necklace.

They were joined by actress Safia Oakley-Green who also stars in the film. She looked incredible in a multi-coloured midi dress with a floral print and high collar.

Fellow actor Samuel Bottomley sported a brown suit with a black shirt and tie.  

Anemone sees Daniel return as Ray Stoker, a former paramilitary soldier who retreats to the woods after suffering an unexplained trauma more than two decades earlier. 

Co-starring fellow stars Sean Bean as Ray’s younger brother Gem, and Samantha Morton as Gem’s wife, Nessa, the film isn’t short on established talent. 

Daniel originally announced his retirement in 2017 after starring in director Paul Thomas Anderson’s Phantom Thread.  

In a statement shared at the time, his representatives simply said he was ‘immensely grateful for his collaborators and audiences’ and would not be making any further comment.

It said: ‘Daniel Day-Lewis will no longer be working as an actor. He is immensely grateful to all of his collaborators and audiences over the many years.

‘This is a private decision and neither he nor his representatives will make any further comment on this subject.’

A few months later in an interview with W magazine, the actor acknowledged he felt ‘great sadness’ at the decision but explained he felt compelled to take it.

‘The impulse to quit took root in me, and that became a compulsion. It was something I had to do,’ he said.

 ‘Do I feel better? Not yet. I have great sadness. And that’s the right way to feel.’

Now, as he returns to screens in Anemone, he has admitted that he was just ‘intending on doing other things’.

Speaking with Rolling Stone, Daniel explained: ‘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.’