Daniel Day-Lewis appears to have returned to acting seven years after his shock announcement he was retiring.

The Oscar-winner, 67, said in 2017 he had made the abrupt decision to step away from showbusiness after making Paul Thomas Anderson’s ‘Phantom Thread’, but he has now been photographed on a movie set, driving a motorbike through the streets of Manchester, England, with actor Sean Bean behind him.

It’s been reported the scene was for a new movie called ‘Avelyn’, with ‘Gangs of New York’ star Daniel – who is a real-life motorcycle fanatic – seen dressed in an olive green bomber jacket, black trousers, brown boots and black gloves.

He was also wearing a white safety helmet, gold glasses and sported a well-groomed beard.

Sean, 65, is playing the role of an ex-soldier in the film, with ‘Avelyn’ set in the 1980s.

Daniel told W magazine in 2017: “(I) didn’t even know I was going to stop acting.

“I do know that Paul (Thomas Anderson) and I laughed a lot before we made (‘Phantom Thread’.) And then we stopped laughing because we were both overwhelmed by a sense of sadness.”

Daniel played an obsessive, uptight dress maker in Paul’s film, and he said he had no intention of watching the final product as he confirmed he was retiring.

He added to W: “Not wanting to see the film is connected to the decision I’ve made to stop working as an actor.

“But it’s not why the sadness came to stay. That happened during the telling of the story, and I don’t really know why.”

Page Six reported in 2018 sources had said Daniel had taken meetings about producing movies.

One insider said: “He is trying to help a friend get a film financed and produced.”