Day-Lewis returned to the stage in 1989 to work with Richard Eyre, in Hamlet at the National Theatre, London, but collapsed during the scene where the ghost of Hamlet's father appears before him.

He began sobbing uncontrollably and refused to go back on stage; he was replaced by Jeremy Northam who finished the performance word-and-action-perfect and received a standing ovation.

Although the incident was officially attributed to exhaustion, Day-Lewis later claimed to have seen the ghost of his own father.

He has not appeared on stage since.