Watch: In Phantom Thread trailer, Daniel Day-Lewis brings to life renowned dressmaker
Daniel Day-Lewis doesn't step into the shoes of his characters, he lives them. He learnt to speak Czech when he was shooting for The Unbearable Lightness of Being even though the movie was shot entirely in English. He refused to move out of his wheelchair when the shoot for My Left Foot had ended. When he was shooting for the critically acclaimed Lincoln, he would not abandon the American accent he put on for the character and even insisted on being referred to as 'Mr President'.
He has previously spoken about "the gravitational pull of another life that fires one’s curiosity", which motivates him to delve so deeply into a character that he soon turns into them.
In his latest film Phantom Thread, he gets into the character of renowned dressmaker Reynolds Woodcock, who was a fashion mogul of his times. From royalty, to movie stars and even socialites, Woodcock created glamourous clothes for the rich and the famous under his brand The House of Woodcock. Day-Lewis portrays Woodcock's passion for making dresses and stitching clothes with his voice alone, with the way he talks about how he sewed things into the canvases of coats.
Women came and went through Woodcock’s life, giving this confirmed bachelor both inspiration and companionship.
The poster for Phantom Thread. Image from Facebook/@PhantomThread
This movie, set in post-War London of the 1950s, will see how his controlled and planned life comes apart when Alma, a young but strong-willed woman who goes from being a house help to his lover and muse.
Vicky Krieps, the actor who plays Alma, shares an interesting chemistry with Day-Lewis. In the trailer, we see the duo's equation develop; Day-Lewis looks mesmerised by her, and the dressmaking plays a role in their intimacy. Soon, he accuses her of tearing apart his life and business when her involvement in his life begins affecting his decisions.
This is the last film Daniel Day-Lewis will be part of before his self-imposed retirement. His acting career began in 1970, and over the years, he has earned three Oscars in the category of Best Male Actor for My Left Foot (1989), There Will Be Blood (2007) and Lincoln (2012). Phantom Thread marks his second collaboration with director Paul Thomas Anderson after There Will Be Blood.
Phantom Thread is slated to release on 25 December. Watch trailer here:
