Daniel Day-Lewis by Young Money
It was 1989 at the production of Hamlet at the National Theatre in London where a 31 year old man collapsed on stage and walked out of his last performance ever on stage. Twenty-four years later, Daniel Day-Lewis has just won his hat-trick of Oscar awards for his performance as Abraham Lincoln. So how did it all change for a man who had failed on stage to now being hailed as the greatest screen actor of his generation? Is it his notorious, obsessive, attention to detail in building his character? Or is it perhaps his incredible ability to immerse himself in character? For me, Daniel’s success was determined by his burning passion for each character he has ever played. He eases into a role of epic difficulty as if it were a coat he had been wearing for years.
Each role Day-Lewis has played since his first success as a gay, Fascist, punk in My Beautiful Laundrette in 1985 has been trailed with news of his extraordinary attempts to immerse himself in character. For instance, in his Oscar- winning guise of Christy Brown in My Left Foot in 1989, Day-Lewis lived in a wheelchair and learned to paint with his toes. While making In the Name of the Father in 1993, he rehearsed his portrayal of the incarcerated Gerry Conlon by eating prison food and sleeping in a cell, yet in the same year he also wore Victorian garb to walk Manhattan’s sidewalks in preparation for going back to the 1870’s in The Age of Innocence. So it could not have been much of a surprise for the crew of The Crucible when Day-Lewis wanted to help build Salem!
If a reputation for seeking ludicrous authenticity follows Day-Lewis, it is probably because his performances are so strong they demand explanation. His performance which best highlights this has to be his depiction of a ruthless oil-tyrant in There Will Be Blood. This is my favourite film of his; Day-Lewis tells us more about his character from his every twitch, every fidget, every spark that dances in his dangerous eyes and every tooth bared by his dangerous smile than dialogue possibly could. No other actor in my opinion could have successfully portrayed this particular character’s progression to insanity than Day-Lewis. It is the genius of his performance to slowly, patiently show the madness replacing his former rationalism and it prepares us for the films’s astonishing ending which I consider to be the most explosive and unforgettable 15 minutes of screen acting I have ever witnessed. You are also left with the much-welcomed confusion of not recognising Day-Lewis, something every actor should aspire to achieve.