Disappearing Act

Phantom thread will be the swan song of the legendary daniel day- lewis. Five film makers who worked with him reflect on the chameleonic master

- Alex Godfrey

STEPHEN FREARS DIRECTOR, MY BEAUTIFUL LAUNDRETTE (1985)

Despite leading roles on stage, on film Day-Lewis had only played a couple of bit parts before he came to Stephen Frears’ attention. After meeting the director, determined to get the part as big-hearted gay thug Johnny in the London-set drama about class and community, Day-Lewis wrote him a threatening letter (which the actor himself has described as “fairly vile”) saying that he’d break Frears’ legs if he didn’t cast him.

“The first time I met him was in 1983, when I was originally going to make Prick Up Your Ears. I hadn’t seen his work. He came in to see me and he had a south London accent. I said, ‘You’re the son of a poet laureate, why are you speaking like that?’ He said, ‘I went to a comprehensive, so I learned to conceal myself.’

“For My Beautiful Laundrette, there was a shortlist of four actors: Gary Oldman, Ken Branagh, Tim Roth, and Dan. And the girls all said, ‘You want Dan. He’s top of the crumpet list.’ The search for the other boy, Omar, was much harder. I said I had to cast them on the same day. I knew I was going to cast Dan, but I made him wait. That’s when he wrote this letter saying he’d break my legs, or was going to take a knife to me. I didn’t take it seriously, not for a second. It made me laugh. He wanted the job. Good for him. But it didn’t get him the part — I’d already made that decision.

“He used to look after Gordon Warnecke [Omar], it was wonderful. If it was a big break for Dan, it was inconceivable for Gordon, suddenly playing a lead. So he was very kind to Gordon. They used to come round to my house and sit and watch Badlands. I think they used to go to Millwall to watch football.