NEW YORK • On Monday night, hours after actor Daniel Day-Lewis received his eighth Golden Globe nomination, he arrived at the stately Harold Pratt House on Park Avenue to toast the New York premiere of the movie that had earned him the nod, Phantom Thread, in which he portrays renowned British dressmaker Reynolds Woodcock.
Dressed in a casual chambray shirt, pin-striped pants and silver-pegged buckle, he strode onto the red carpet at 10.30pm, where dozens of photographers and reporters had camped out.
He posed with his co-stars Lesley Manville and Vicky Krieps, and the film's director, Paul Thomas Anderson. Then, he turned around and promptly disappeared, without taking a single question.
It appears that Day-Lewis, the only performer to win three Oscars in the Best Actor category, was not kidding when he announced in June that he would be retiring after this film.
Fortunately, other guests were in a more celebratory mood.
Actress Sienna Miller, looking like summer itself, circulated with aplomb. Actor Michael Shannon eyed Anderson from afar until finally approaching him for a chat.
The film, which many guests had seen earlier that night at a nearby screening hosted by the Cinema Society, explores the intense relationship between Woodcock and a young woman who becomes his muse, portrayed by Krieps.
The film has a meditative quality that the actors found deeply moving.
"Everything that's about making the movie was the same, but it was so much more work-oriented," said Krieps, who wore a lacy red dress by Alexander McQueen. "The set was so quiet and almost spiritual in a way. There was an atmosphere that was almost holy."
Although the film is set in 1950s London, the ups and downs experienced by the designer are just as relevant today. At least according to former J. Crew president Jenna Lyons.
"The things that are prevalent for every designer: feeling let down or emotionally spent after you finish something big and, on top of that, constantly wanting to hear feedback, but not wanting to hear feedback, wanting to know people love you, but not wanting to know people love you," she said.
"Everyone goes through that. You give something of yourself. It's always tense and emotional."
NYTIMES
