Daniel Day-Lewis Seen in Rare Appearance 6 Years After Announcing His Retirement from Acting

The Oscar winner was spotted wearing a baseball cap, zip-up hoodie and with notably longer hair

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Brenton Blanchet
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Brenton Blanchet
Brenton Blanchet is a writer-reporter at PEOPLE. He has been working at PEOPLE since 2022. Brenton's work has previously appeared in Billboard, Pigeons & Planes and Complex.
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Published on May 19, 2023 04:55PM EDT
Reclusive star Daniel Day-Lewis is seen for the FIRST time in almost 4 years with his wife Rebecca Miller as he looked almost unrecognizable with long gray hair!
Daniel Day-Lewis spotted in New York City. Photo: BACKGRID

Daniel Day-Lewis is stepping out.

The Oscar-winning actor, 66, announced his retirement from the profession back in 2017 and has kept a low profile since.

On Thursday, he was photographed in public in New York City for the first time in years, as he walked side-by-side with his wife, director Rebecca Miller.

Reclusive star Daniel Day-Lewis is seen for the FIRST time in almost 4 years with his wife Rebecca Miller as he looked almost unrecognizable with long gray hair!
Daniel Day-Lewis spotted in New York City. BACKGRID
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During his walk in West Village, Day-Lewis was spotted wearing a pair of yellow sweats, a black zip-up hoodie, a blue striped shirt and a black baseball cap.

The Lincoln actor also opted for a bit of silver jewelry, a pair of shades and longer hair than fans last saw him with.

News of Day-Lewis' retirement from acting came in June 2017, when his rep at the time Leslee Dart told PEOPLE that he would "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," she continued.

Day-Lewis is notably the first actor to win three Oscars in the lead Best Actor category, doing so for Steven Spielberg's Lincoln in 2012, 2007's There Will Be Blood and 1989's My Left Foot.

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Day-Lewis' final film Phantom Thread saw him reunite with director Paul Thomas Anderson for a release in late 2017.

The movie once again earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Actor months later, but he lost the award to Gary Oldman for his performance in Darkest Hour.

"Before making the film, I didn't know I was going to stop acting," Day-Lewis told W Magazine after the announcement. "I do know that Paul [Thomas Anderson] and I laughed a lot before we made the movie. And then we stopped laughing because we were both overwhelmed by a sense of sadness. That took us by surprise: We didn't realize what we had given birth to. It was hard to live with. And still is."

When asked about his decision, he added, "I haven't figured it out."

"But it's settled on me, and it's just there…I dread to use the overused word 'artist,' but there's something of the responsibility of the artist that hung over me. I need to believe in the value of what I'm doing. The work can seem vital. Irresistible, even. And if an audience believes it, that should be good enough for me. But, lately, it isn't."