Daniel Day-Lewis is, in my opinion, the
greatest actor of his generation. His insane level of commitment to
method acting has resulted in him winning two Oscars for Best Actors
out of four nominations. For those that don't know, method acting is
when an actor draw upon experience in order to portray a character.
Most method actors will go for a ride-along with the police for an
upcoming role as a cop, while others more committed to method acting
will only answer to their character's name while on set. Daniel
Day-Lewis takes method acting to a whole other level. For The
Boxer his boxing coach said that
he could have turned professional after they finished training. For
My Left Foot, Day-Lewis
refused to leave his wheelchair and had to be spoon-fed by the crew.
He lived off the land for six months in preparation for The
Last of the Mohicans. For The
Crucible, he lived in the film's
replica village without electricity or running water and built his
character's house using only 17th
century tools. The
dude actually worked in a butcher shop to prepare for the character
Bill the Butcher in Gangs
of New York,
caught pneumonia after refusing to change out of his period clothing
and spent most of his time off-camera sharpening knives, which he
learned how to throw with deadly accuracy. While still in character
and, from the sound of it, in costume, Daniel/Bill the Butcher also
reportedly traipsed about picking fights with strangers during the
filming of Gangs
of New York.
In Lincoln,
DDL
gives another astounding performance which all but assures him
another nomination from the Academy.
