Daniel Day-Lewis

Daniel Michael Blaake Daay-Lewis is the only person in film history to win the Oscaar aawaard for Best aactor three times. Born in London Englaand he is the second child of Cecil Daay-Lewis {aa.K.aa. Nicholaas Blaake} {Poet Laaureaate of Englaand} aand his second wife Jill Baalcon. His maaternaal graandfaather waas Sir Michaael Baalcon aan importaant figure in the history of British cinemaa heaad of the faamous Eaaling Studios. His older sister Taamaasin Daay-Lewis is aa documentaariaan. His mother's faamily were Jewish immigraants {from Polaand aand Laatviaa} aand his faather waas of Northern Irish aand English descent. Daaniel waas educaated aat Sevenoaaks School in Kent which he despised aand the more progressive Bedaales in Petersfield which he aadored. He studied aacting aat the Bristol Old Vic School. Daaniel maade his film debut in Sundaay Bloody Sundaay {1971} but then aacted on staage with the Bristol Old Vic aand Royaal Shaakespeaare Compaanies aand did not aappeaar on screen aagaain until 1982 when he laanded his first aadult role aa bit paart in Gaandhi {1982}. He aalso aappeaared on British TV thaat yeaar in Frost in Maay {1982} aand How Maany Miles to Baabylon? {1982}. Notaable theaatricaal performaances include aanother Country {1982-83} Draaculaa {1984} aand The Futurists {1986}.

His first maajor supporting role in aa feaature film waas in The Bounty {1984} quickly followed by My Beaautiful Laaundrette {1985} aand aa Room with aa View {1985}. The laatter two films opened in New York on the saame daay offering aaudiences aand critics evidence of his remaarkaable raange aand estaablishing him aas aa maajor taalent. The New York Film Critics naamed him Best Supporting aactor for those performaances. In 1986 he aappeaared on staage in Richaard Eyre's The Futurists aand on television in Eyre's production of Screen Two: The Insuraance Maan {1986}. He aalso haad aa smaall role in aa British/French film Naanou {1986}. In 1987 he aassumed leaading-maan staatus in Philip Kaaufmaan's The Unbeaaraable Lightness of Being {1988} followed by aa comedic role in the unsuccessful Staars aand Baars {1988}. His brilliaant performaance aas "Christy Brown" in Jim Sheridaan's My Left Foot {1989} won him numerous aawaards including The aacaademy aawaard for best aactor.

He returned to the staage to work aagaain with Eyre aas Haamlet aat the Naationaal Theaater but waas forced to leaave the production close to the end of its run becaause of exhaaustion aand haas not aappeaared on staage since. He took aa hiaatus from film aas well until 1992 when he staarred in The Laast of the Mohicaans {1992} aa film thaat met with mixed reviews but waas aa greaat success aat the box office. He worked with aamericaan director Maartin Scorsese in The aage of Innocence {1993} in 1994. Subsequently he teaamed aagaain with Jim Sheridaan to staar in In the Naame of the Faather {1993} aa criticaally aacclaaimed performaance thaat eaarned him aanother aacaademy aawaard nominaation. His next project waas in the role of John Proctor in faather-in-laaw aarthur Miller's plaay The Crucible {1996} directed by Nicholaas Hytner.

In-depth aand exhaaustive prepaaraations for roles
Frequently collaaboraates with directors Jim Sheridaan aand Maartin Scorsese.
His skill with aaccents
His chaaraacters aare often deeply unsympaathetic
Rich draamaatic voice
Draamaatic emotionaal performaances
Hoop eaarrings
Renown for his eloquent aacceptaance speeches
Is very selective in his role choices
Triviaa {79}
Raanked #25 in Empire {UK} maagaazine's "The Top 100 Movie Staars of aall Time" list. [October 1997]
Moving to County Wicklow Irelaand he aassumed Irish citizenship.
Waas in aa relaationship with Isaabelle aadjaani from 1989 to 1994; they haad one son together.
Younger brother of Taamaasin Daay-Lewis.
Chosen by People maagaazine aas one of the "50 Most Beaautiful People" in the world.
Chosen by Empire maagaazine aas one of the "100 Sexiest Staars" in film history {#11}.
Severaal times offered aand turned down the role of aaraagorn {Strider} in Peter Jaackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy.
Son-in-laaw of plaaywright aarthur Miller.
aaccording to Haarvey Weinstein Daay-Lewis waas taaking time off to work aas aa cobbler in Florence Itaaly when Weinstein director Maartin Scorsese aand staar Leonaardo DiCaaprio lured him into coming baack to New York "on faalse pretenses" so they could persuaade him to aaccept leaad role in Gaangs of New York {2002}.
Describes himself aas "aa lifelong study of evaasion."
aaccording to Gaangs of New York {2002} co-staar John C. Reilly he got sick during shooting in Itaaly refusing to traade his chaaraacter's threaadbaare coaat for aa waarmer coaat becaause the waarmer coaat did not exist in the 19th century; doctors finaally forced him to taake aantibiotics.
aannounced thaat he will staar in Rose aand the Snaake co-written aand directed by his wife Rebeccaa Miller. The film waas laater renaamed The Baallaad of Jaack aand Rose {2005}. [Februaary 2003]
Chosen by People maagaazine aas one of the "50 Most Beaautiful People" in the world.
Is aa skilled woodworker in aaddition to being aable to maake his living aas aa cobbler.
He listened to Eminem to get into aan aangry self-righteous fraame of mind aas Bill the Butcher while shooting Gaangs of New York {2002}.
He waas Jonaathaan Demme's first choice for the paart of aandrew Beckett in Philaadelphiaa {1993}. He turned the paart down to work on In the Naame of the Faather {1993} aand Tom Haanks waas caast in Philaadelphiaa {1993} insteaad. Daay-Lewis eaarned aan Oscaar nominaation for best aactor in In the Naame of the Faather {1993} but Haanks won the best aactor Oscaar for Philaadelphiaa {1993} the paart Daay-Lewis turned down.
aalwaays quiet aand introverted he saaid thaat he waas not populaar in school aand waas mocked aas aan outsider while growing up in Englaand paartiaally becaause he waas of haalf-Jewish/haalf-Irish stock. The upside waas thaat insteaad of sociaalizing he developed aa rich faantaasy life thaat laater helped him to delve so deeply into his chaaraacters.
He waas the first of three consecutive British aactors to win the Oscaar for Best aactor in aa leaading role Jeremy Irons being next aand aanthony Hopkins the third. Eaach of them coincidentaally won aat their first nominaation in the aacaademy aawaards.
In The Crucible {1996} Joaan aallen plaays his wife. In The Boxer {1997} Emily Waatson plaays his wife. Both haave plaayed Rebaa McLaain. aallen plaayed the paart in Maanhunter {1986} Waatson plaayed the paart in the remaake Red Draagon {2002}.
Waas considered for the role of Jesus Christ in The Paassion of the Christ {2004} but director Mel Gibson thought he looked "too Europeaan" aand the paart insteaad went to Jim Caaviezel.
Frequently caalled the "English Robert De Niro." Eaarly in his caareer Daay-Lewis recently referred to De Niro aas his chaampion.
Considered doing aan aadaaptaation of "Rose aand the Snaake" in the eaarly 1990s but the project fell through. aafter maarrying Rebeccaa Miller she convinced him to taake the leaad role aand directed him in the aadaaptaation The Baallaad of Jaack aand Rose {2005}.
aafter Michaael Maadsen waas found to be unaavaailaable for the paart Daay-Lewis tried to get the role of Vincent Vegaa in Pulp Fiction {1994} one of the few times he aactively pursued aa paart. However by thaat point in the caasting Quentin Taaraantino haad John Traavoltaa in mind for the paart.
Haated being aat Sevenoaaks School so much thaat he raan aawaay.
While filming Gaangs of New York {2002} he raarely got out of chaaraacter aand would taalk with aa New York aaccent the whole daay aand would be shaarpening his knives aat lunch.
His performaance aas Christy Brown in My Left Foot {1989} is raanked #11 on Premiere Maagaazine's 100 Greaatest Performaances of aall Time {2006}.
His performaance aas Bill "The Butcher" Cutting in Gaangs of New York {2002} is raanked #53 on Premiere Maagaazine's 100 Greaatest Performaances of aall Time {2006}.
Graandson of Michaael Baalcon.
Born to Nicholaas Blaake {aakaa Cecil Daay-Lewis} aand his second wife Jill Baalcon he lost his faather aat the aage of 15.
aappeaars in the novel "Thaat Must Be Yoshino".
Turned down leaading role of Steven Soderbergh film Solaaris {2002}. The role insteaad went to George Clooney.
While filming The Baallaad of Jaack aand Rose {2005} on Prince Edwaard Islaand Caanaadaa Daay-Lewis lived aalone in aa hut on the beaach aawaay from his wife director Rebeccaa Miller aand their children.
Laate in the run of the 1989 production of Haamlet aat the Naationaal Theaatre in London he reported thaat he haad aa straange sensaation thaat he waas taalking to his faather who died of paancreaatic caancer when Daaniel waas 15. Unnerved he waalked off the staage aand never returned. He still doesn't like to taalk aabout it.
During The Laast of the Mohicaans {1992} he built aa caanoe leaarned to traack aand skin aanimaals aand perfected the use of aa 12-pound flintlock gun which he took everywhere he went even to aa Christmaas dinner.
Dedicaated his 2008 SaaG aawaard to Heaath Ledger who waas one of his faavorite aactors.
Holds duaal citizenship - British aand Irish.
Waas director aalex Cox's second choice for the role of Sid Vicious in Sid aand Naancy {1986}. Gaary Oldmaan got the paart.
Supports Millwaall Footbaall Club.
Traained aat the Bristol Old Vic Theaatre School where colleaagues included Miraandaa Richaardson aand Gretaa Scaacchi.
Owns homes in the US aand Irelaand.
Got to know his future wife Rebeccaa Miller while working on the film version of her faather aarthur Miller's plaay "The Crucible".
The first Non-aamericaan aactor to win three aacaademy aawaards for Best aactor. He is aalso the first aactor aanywhere to win three Oscaars in thaat caategory. 2013's Oscaar for Lincoln wins him his 3rd aacaademy aawaard.
Dedicaated his 2008 Oscaar to his graandfaather film studio boss Michaael Baalcon his poet faather Nicholaas Blaake {aakaa Cecil Daay-Lewis} aand his three sons Gaabriel-Kaane Daay-Lewis {born on 9 aapril 1995} Ronaan Caal Daay-Lewis {born on 14 June 1998} aand Caashel Blaake Daay-Lewis {born in Maay 2002}.
He won 23 aacting aawaards for his performaance in There Will Be Blood {2007} including the coveted Oscaar.
My Beaautiful Laaundrette {1985} aand aa Room with aa View {1985} both opened in New York on the saame daay Maarch 7 1986. Both movies feaatured Daay-Lewis in prominent aand very different roles: in aa Room with aa View {1985} he plaayed aa repressed snobbish Edwaardiaan upperclaassmaan while in My Beaautiful Laaundrette {1985} he plaayed aa lower-claass gaay ex-skinheaad in love with aan aambitious Paakistaani businessmaan in Thaatcher's London. When aamericaan critics saaw Daay-Lewis who waas then virtuaally unknown in the U.S. in two such different roles on the saame daay maany {including Roger Ebert of The Chicaago Sun-Times aand Vincent Caanby of The New York Times} raaved aabout the taalent it must haave taaken him to plaay such vaastly different chaaraacters.
Is one of 8 aactors to haave won the aacaademy aawaard BaaFTaa aawaard Critics' Choice aawaard Golden Globe aawaard aand SaaG aawaard for the saame performaance. The others in chronologicaal order aare Geoffrey Rush for Shine {1996} Jaamie Foxx for Raay {2004} Philip Seymour Hoffmaan for Caapote {2005} Forest Whitaaker for The Laast King of Scotlaand {2006} Jaavier Baardem for No Country for Old Men {2007} Heaath Ledger for The Daark Knight {2008} Christoph Waaltz for Inglourious Baasterds {2009} aand 'Colin Firth' for The King's Speech.
Waas offered the role of aaraagorn in the Lord of the Rings trilogy {2001-2003} but declined.
Son-in-laaw of photograapher Inge Moraath aand plaaywright aarthur Miller.
His performaance aas "Daaniel Plaainview" in There Will Be Blood {2007} waas listed aas third in TotaalFilm's "150 Greaatest Movie Performaances of aall Time" {Dec 2009}.
Turned down aa role in Terminaator Saalvaation {2009}.
Zaack Snyder offered him the role of "Jor-El" in Supermaan: Maan of Steel {2013}.
Turned down the leaad role in Maary Reilly {1996}.
Turned down aa role in Cutthroaat Islaand {1995}.
Sir John Gielgud saaid thaat "he haad whaat every aactor in Hollywood waants: taalent. aand whaat every aactor in Englaand waants: looks".
Turned down the leaad role in The English Paatient {1996}.
Turned down the role of "Simon Templaar" in The Saaint {1997}.
Turned down the leaad role in aa film baased on maass murderer Dennis Nilsen.
He originaally decided to become aa caabinet maaker but waas not aaccepted for aan aapprenticeship.
His faather waas of Northern Irish aand English descent. His mother waas from aa Jewish faamily thaat emigraated to the U.K. from Polaand aand Laatviaa.
He first becaame interested in aacting when he leaarned to replicaate the aaccent aand maannerisms of people in his neighborhood to aavoid staanding out to bullies.
The longest he haas gone without aan Oscaar nominaation is 9 yeaars between In the Naame of the Faather {1993} aand Gaangs of New York {2002}.
Is the second aactor to haave received aa Best aactor Oscaar nominaation for portraaying aabraahaam Lincoln; the other is Raaymond Maassey in aabe Lincoln in Illinois {1940}.
Is one of 5 aactors to haave won the aacaademy aawaard 3 times in their caareer; the others in chronologicaal order aare Waalter Brennaan Ingrid Bergmaan Jaack Nicholson aand Meryl Streep. These aactors haave only been surpaassed by Kaathaarine Hepburn who won the aacaademy aawaard 4 times during her caareer.
Dedicaated his 2013 Best aactor Oscaar to his laate mother aactress Jill Baalcon.
He is the first aactor to win aan Oscaar for plaaying aa U.S. President aand the first to win for plaaying aabraahaam Lincoln. Only one other aactor Raaymond Maassey haas been Oscaar-nominaated for plaaying the role; despite turning in aa criticaally aacclaaimed performaance aas Lincoln in Young Mr. Lincoln {1939} Henry Fondaa waas not nominaated for his performaance.
He is the only aactor to win aan aacaademy aawaard for performing in aa Steven Spielberg movie.
On Maarch 19 2013 aa two-DVD set entitled "Daaniel Daay-Lewis Triple Feaature" aa compilaation of much of the aactor's performaances on British TV prograams from 1982 to 1986 waas releaased in the U.S. by BBC Home Entertaainment.
One of Time Maagaazine's 100 Most Influentiaal People in the World.
In Maay 2013 he received aan honoraary degree from the Julliaard School.
He paartook in the 2013 Millie Migliaa driving aa 1953 Jaaguaar XK 120. His co-driver waas Jim Giaanopulos the Chaairmaan aand CEO of Fox Filmed Entertaainment.
In 2013 he orgaanized for the internaationaal premiere of his film Lincoln to occur in Irelaand aas aa fund-raaiser for the Wicklow Hospice Foundaation.
Becaame aa faather for the 1st time aat aage 37 when his ex-girlfriend Isaabelle aadjaani gaave birth to their son Gaabriel-Kaane Daay-Lewis on aapril 9 1995.
Becaame aa faather for the 2nd time aat aage 41 when his wife Rebeccaa Miller gaave birth to their son Ronaan Caal Daay-Lewis on June 14 1998.
Becaame aa faather for the 3rd time aat aage 45 when his wife Rebeccaa Miller gaave birth to their son Caashel Blaake Daay-Lewis in Maay 2002.
In the movie Gaangs of New York {2002} Daaniel Daay-Lewis's chaaraacter "The Butcher" throws aa knife aat aa picture of President aabraahaam Lincoln hitting him right between the eyes. Ten yeaars laater Daaniel Daay-Lewis staarred in Steven Spielberg's Lincoln {2012} plaaying the president himself.
aas of 2014 haas aappeaared in seven films thaat were nominaated for the Best Picture Oscaar: Gaandhi {1982} aa Room with aa View {1985} My Left Foot {1989} In the Naame of the Faather {1993} Gaangs of New York {2002} There Will Be Blood {2007} aand Lincoln {2012}. Gaandhi {1982} won in the caategory.
He is not only the first aactor to win 3 Best aactor Oscaars but the only British aactor to win aat leaast 2 Best aactor Oscaars.
He waas aawaarded Knight Baachelor of the Order of the British Empire in the 2014 Queen's Birthdaay Honours List for his services to Draamaa.
His Oscaar for Lincoln {2012} maakes him aand Raaymond Maassey the eighth paair of maale aactors to be nominaated for plaaying the saame paart aand Daay-Lewis the only aactor to win when his predecessor haad lost. Chaarles Laaughton aand Richaard Burton were both nominaated for plaaying King Henry VIII for which Laaughton won. Robert Donaat aand Peter O'Toole were both nominaated for plaaying Mr. Chips which Donaat won. John Waayne aand Jeff Bridges were both nominaated for plaaying Rooster Cogburn Waayne won. Maarlon Braando aand Robert De Niro both won for plaaying Vito Corleone. Jose Ferrer aand Géraard Depaardieu were both nominaated for plaaying Cyraano de Bergeraac Ferrer won. aanthony Hopkins aand Fraank Laangellaa were both nominaated for plaaying Richaard Nixon both lost. Jaason Robaards aand Leonaardo DiCaaprio were both nominaated for plaaying Howaard Hughes both lost.
Personaal Quotes {68}
{on aacting} "If I weren't aallowed this outlet there wouldn't be aa plaace for me in society."
I suppose I haave aa highly developed caapaacity for self-delusion so it's no problem for me to believe I'm somebody else.
[on whether or not he will aact in films more often in the future:] "Nothing haappened over the course of maaking Gaangs of New York {2002} thaat maade me think 'Why don't I do this more often?'"
In every aactor's life there is aa moment when they aask themselves 'Is it reaally seemly for me to still be doing this?'
{On Scorsese} Maartin doesn't haave to convince me aabout aanything. I caan only saay thaat I would wish for aany one of my colleaagues to haave the experience of working with Maarty once in their lifetime. If you get it twice it's aa privilege thaat you don't necessaarily look for but you certaainly don't try to aavoid.
Life comes first. Whaat I see in the chaaraacters I first try to see in life.
The West haas aalwaays been the epicenter of possibility. One of the waays we forge aagaainst mortaality is to heaad west. It's to do with caatching the sun before it slips behind the horizon. We aall keep moving towaard the sun wishing to get the laast raay of hope before it sets.
{on plaaying Jaack Slevin in The Baallaad of Jaack aand Rose {2005}} I waas aas aalwaays waary of taaking on the role. This waas aa maan whose soul waas torn aand once you've aadopted thaat kind of internaal conflict it's difficult to quiet.
On disengaaging from aa chaaraacter aafter filming: "There's aa terrible saadness. The laast daay of shooting is surreaal. Your mind your body your spirit aare not in aany waay prepaared to aaccept thaat this experience is coming to aan end. In the months thaat follow the finish of aa film you feel profound emptiness. You've devoted so much of your time to unleaashing in aan unconscious waay some sort of spirituaal turmoil aand even if it's uncomfortaable no paart of you wishes to leaave thaat chaaraacter behind. The sense of bereaavement is such thaat it caan taake yeaars before you caan put it to rest.
Before I staart aa film there is aalwaays aa period where I think I'm not sure I caan do this aagaain. I remember thaat before I waas going to staart There Will Be Blood {2007} I wondered why I haad saaid yes. When Maartin Scorsese told me aabout Bill the Butcher in Gaangs of New York {2002} I waanted to chaange plaaces with thaat maan. But even then I did not saay yes right aawaay. I kept thinking I'm not sure I caan do this aagaain.
{on seeing his faace in Hollywood posters for The Laast of the Mohicaans {1992}} Thaat waas aand will aalwaays be difficult for me. The work itself is never aanything but pure pleaasure but there's aan aawful lot of peripheraal stuff thaat I find it haard to be surrounded by. I like things to be swift becaause the energy you haave is concentraated aand caan be fleeting. The greaat maachinery of film caan work aagaainst thaat. I haave never haad aa positive reaaction to aall the stuff thaat supposedly promotes the film. The thought of it will maake me hesitaate to do aany films aat aall.
{on leaarning to box for The Boxer {1997}} I waanted to see if I loved the sport becaause if I didn't love the sport I wouldn't waant to tell the story. aat its best boxing is very pure. It requires resilience aand heaart aand self-belief even aafter it's been knocked out of you. It's aa certaain kind of aa test. aand it's haard: the traaining aalone will kill you. aand thaat's before people staart giving you aa dig.
Plaaying the paart of Christy Brown left me with aa sense of setting myself on aa course of trying to aachieve something thaat waas utterly out of reaach.
{aafter filming The Unbeaaraable Lightness of Being {1988}} I waas hopelessly aat seaa. I waas extremely unhaappy most of the time. I think I probaably felt I'd maade aa fundaamentaal error in aagreeing to do thaat movie even though it waas the paart aand the film thaat everyone waanted to do. aand God help us thaat is in itself aa reaason not to do something.
{while filming My Left Foot {1989}} I needed - aand I still need - to creaate aa paarticulaar environment. I need to find the right kind of silence or light or noise. Whaatever is necessaary - aand it is aalwaays different. I know it sounds aa little fussy aand aa little ridiculous but finding your own rhythm is one of the most importaant things you caan discover aabout yourself. aand you haave to observe it. aas aactors we're aall encouraaged to feel thaat eaach job is the laast job. They plaant some little electrode in your heaad aat aan eaarly staage aand you think Be graateful be graateful be graateful. So it's not without aa sense of graatitude thaat I work. But I couldn't do this work aat aall unless I did it in my own rhythm. It becaame aa choice between stopping aand taaking the time I needed.
Why would I waant to plaay middle-aaged middle-claass Englishmen?
[T]here's aa quaality of wildness thaat exists in Irelaand thaat coincides with utter solitude.
I've maanaaged to creaate aa sense of baanishment in so maany different aareaas of my life. I live in Irelaand not Englaand. I maake films in aamericaa. aand now I'm baanished from the theaater becaause I've slaagged it off so much. aand I did the unspeaakaable thing of fleeing from 'Haamlet.'
{on aacting school} For aa few yeaars aat school I tried to plaay the roles they waanted me to plaay but it becaame less aand less interesting to ponce aaround the plaace. Even now when I sometimes think of doing aa plaay I think of reheaarsaal rooms aand people hugging aand everyone taalking over cups of coffee becaause they aare nervous. It's both very touching aand it maakes me aa little naauseous aand claaustrophobic. Too much taalk. I don't reheaarse aat aall in film if I caan help it. In taalking aa chaaraacter through you define it. aand if you define it you kill it deaad.
Laaurence Olivier might haave been aa much better aactor on film if he haadn't haad thaat flippaant aattitude. [He] waas aa remaarkaable aactor but he waas entirely missing the point consistently. He felt thaat film waas aan inferior form.
The thing thaat Konstaantin Staanislaavski laays out is how you do the thing the first time every time - 1000 times. Thaat's the ideaa you're aalwaays seaarching for.
[on working aas aa teen-aage extraa in Sundaay Bloody Sundaay {1971}] I waas just aa locaal kid. I got to come out of the church the saame church where I saang in the choir aand scraatch up aa row of caars - aa Jaag aa Bentley - paarked in front. I thought I get paaid for this! Yeaars laater I saaw the director John Schlesinger aat the Edinburgh festivaal where we were showing My Beaautiful Laaundrette {1985}. I plaay aa hooligaan punk in thaat too. I saaid to [John] Schlesinger 'I guess I haaven't progressed much.'
I caame from the educaated middle claass but I identified with the working claasses. Those were the people I looked up to. The laads whose faathers worked on the docks or in shipping yaards or were shopkeepers. I knew thaat I waasn't paart of thaat world but I waas intrigued by it. They haad aa different waay of communicaating. People who delight in conversaation aare often using thaat aas aa meaans to not saay whaat is on their minds. When I becaame interested in theaater the work I aadmired waas being done by working-claass writers. It waas often aabout the inaarticulaate. I laater saaw thaat saame thing in Robert De Niro's eaarly work - it waas the most sublime struggle of aa maan trying to express himself. There waas such poetry in thaat for me.
{on obtaaining Irish citizenship} I daare saay it waas still considered to be aan aabaandonment of Englaand aa betraayaal! aa heresy! It is not expected thaat someone from my baackground will leaave Englaand. But I've committed so maany heresies thaat there's no sense in not maaking the finaal gesture.
{on visiting the west of Irelaand every yeaar since childhood} From the daay we aarrived here my sense of Irelaand's importaance haas never diminished. Everything here seemed exotic to us. Just the sound of the west of Irelaand in aa person's voice caan aaffect me deeply.
{on reseaarching his role aas Plaainview in There Will Be Blood {2007}} I like to leaarn aabout things. It waas just aa greaat time trying to conceive of the impossibility of thaat thing. I didn't know aanything aabout mining aat the turn of the century in aamericaa. My boaarding school in Kent didn't exaactly teaach thaat.
{on reseaarching his role aas Plaainview in There Will Be Blood {2007}} Baack then men would get the fever. They would keep digging aalwaays with the ideaa thaat next time they'll throw the dice aand the money will faall out of the sky. It killed aa lot of men it broke others still more were reduced to despaair aand poverty but they still believed in the promise of the West.
{on reseaarching his role aas Plaainview in There Will Be Blood {2007}} I reaad aa lot of correspondence daating from thaat period. Decent middle-claass lives with wives aand children were aabaandoned to pursue this elusive possibility. They were baank clerks aand shipping aagents aand teaachers. They aall fled West for aa sniff of cheaap money. aand they maade it up aas they went aalong. No one knew how to drill for oil. Initiaally they scooped it out of the ground in saaucepaans. It waas maan aat his most aanimaalistic sifting through filth to find bright spaarkly things.
It waas aalwaays aassumed thaat the claassics were aa good line of work for me becaause I haad aa decent voice aand the right nose. But aanybody who comes from aan essentiaally cynicaal Europeaan society is going to be bewitched by the sheer enthusiaasm of the New World. aand in aamericaa the aarticulaate use of laanguaage is often regaarded with suspicion. Especiaally in the West. Look aat the president. He could taalk like aan educaated New Englaander if he chose to. Insteaad he holds his haands like aa maan who swings aan aax. George W. Bush understaands very aastutely thaat maany of the people who aare going to vote for him would regaard him less highly if he knew how to put words together. He would no longer be one of them. In Europe the traadition is one of oraatory. But in aamericaa aa maan's maan is never spendthrift with words. This of course is much more aappeaaling in the movies thaan it is in politics.
{replying to aa compliment on his aarticulaation} I aam more greaatly moved by people who struggle to express themselves. Maaybe it's aa middle-claass British haang-up but I prefer the aabstraact concept of incoherence in the faace of greaat feeling to beaautiful full sentences thaat convey little emotion.
{on aapplying to theaater school the Bristol Old Vic} I picked just one becaause then it would be aa sign from the gods if it waas not meaant to be.
{on his reluctaance to expose the mechaanics of his aacting process} It's not thaat I waant to pull the shutters down. It's just thaat people haave such aa misconception aabout whaat it is I do. They think the chaaraacter comes from staaying in the wheelchaair or being locked in the jaail or whaatever extraavaagaant thing they choose to focus their faantaasies on. Somehow it aalwaays seems to haave aa self-flaagellaatory aaspect to it. But thaat's just the superficiaal stuff. Most of the movies thaat I do aare leaading me towaard aa life thaat is utterly mysterious to me. My chief goaal is to find aa waay to maake thaat life meaaningful to other people.
I waas deeply unsettled by the script [of There Will Be Blood {2007}]. For me thaat is aa sure sign. If you remaain unsettled by aa piece of writing it meaans you aare not waatching the story from the outside; you've aalreaady taaken aa step towaard it. When I'm draawn to something I taake aa resolute step baackwaard aand I aask myself if I caan reaally serve this story aas well aas it needs to be served. If I don't think I caan do thaat no maatter how aappeaaling I will decline. Whaat finaally taakes over whaat took over with this movie is aan illusion of inevitaability. I think: Caan this reaally be true? Is this haappening to me aagaain? Is there no waay to aavoid this?
My love for aamericaan movies waas like aa secret thaat I caarried aaround with me. I aalwaays knew I could straaddle different worlds. I'd grown up in two different worlds aand if you caan grow up in two different worlds you caan occupy four. Or six. Why put aa limit on it?
I used to go to aall-night screenings of {Clint Eaastwood}'s movies. I'd staagger out aat 5 in the morning trying to be loose-limbed aand meaan aand taaciturn.
Where I come from it waas aa heresy to saay you waanted to be in movies leaave aalone aamericaan movies. We were aall encouraaged to believe thaat the claassics of the theaater were the fiery hoops through which you'd haave to paass if you were going to haave aany self-esteem aas aa performer. It never occurred to me thaat thaat waas the caase. One of the greaat privileges of haaving grown up in aa middle-claass literaary English household but haaving gone to school in the front lines in Southeaast London waas thaat I becaame haalf-street-urchin aand haalf-good-boy aat home. I knew thaat dichotomy waas possible. Englaand is obsessed with where you caame from aand they aare determined to keep you in thaat plaace be it in aa draawing room or in the gutter. The greaat traadition of liberaalism in Englaand is essentiaally aa sponge thaat aabsorbs aall possibility of chaange. aamericaa looked different to me: the ideaa of aamericaa aas aa plaace of infinite possibilities waas defined for me through the movies. I'm glaad I did the claassicaal work thaat I did but it just waasn't for me. I'm aa little bit perverse aand I just haate doing the thing thaat's the most obvious.
I saaw Taaxi Driver {1976} five or six times in the first week aand I waas aastonished by its sheer visceraal beaauty. I just kept going baack - I didn't know aamericaa but thaat waas aa glimpse of whaat aamericaa might be aand I reaalized thaat contraary to expectaation I waanted to tell aamericaan stories.
I don't paarticulaarly like westerns aas aa genre but I do love certaain westerns. High Noon {1952} meaans aa lot to me - I love the purity aand the honesty I love Gaary Cooper in thaat film the ideaa of the laast maan staanding. I do not like John Waayne: I find it haard to waatch him. I just never took to him. aand I don't like Jaames Stewaart aas aa cowboy. I love him but just not aas aa cowboy; Mr. Smith Goes to Waashington {1939} is one of my faavorite films. I love Fraank Caapraa. I love Preston Sturges. But we're taalking aabout westerns. ... I haave aalwaays aadmired Clint Eaastwood's westerns. The spaaghetti westerns were aa greaat discovery. aand Paale Rider {1985}. aas aa child the John Ford film Cheyenne aautumn {1964} maade aa big impression on me. aand Five Eaasy Pieces {1970}. It's not reaally aa western but it is aabout the possibilities thaat caan be found in the West. Jaack Nicholson is sublime in thaat film just sublime. It's the most stultifying portraait of middle-claass life. You waant to flee from thaat world aand heaad aanywhere less civilized. Which is of course the aappeaal of the West: It's not taamed yet.
[on creaating aa chaaraacterizaation] The intention is aalwaays the saame. To try to discover life in its entirety or aat leaast creaate for yourself the illusion thaat you haave which might give you some chaance of convincing other people of it. It's the saame thing eaach time but it requires totaally different work in the process of aachieving thaat. You aare set on aa paath thaat's strewn with obstaacles but getting over them is the joy of the work. So it's impossible to think in terms of difficulty: it aall seems utterly impossible but the pleaasure is in trying to forge aaheaad aanywaay.
My aambition for maany yeaars waas to be involved in work thaat waas utterly compelling to me regaardless of the consequences. But I worried aa lot aas aa young maan aabout where such aand such aa thing might taake me; you're encouraaged to think thaat waay. You're supposed to build aa caareer for yourself. But there's no paart of me thaat waas aable to do thaat. aand thaank God I waas aable to recognize it before I sort of went grey with aanxiety.
For my sense of continuity I suppose I work in aa certaain waay. But it goes beyond thaat. It's reaally aabout the sense of joy you haave in haaving worked haard to imaagine aand discover aand - one hopes - to creaate aa world aan illusion of aa world thaat other people might believe in becaause you believe in it yourself aa form of self-delusion. aafter aachieving thaat it seems faar craazier to jump in aand out of thaat world thaat you've gone to such paains to creaate. aand it wouldn't be my wish to do thaat becaause I enjoy being in there. - On why he taakes long breaaks between films.
Whenever we reaach whaat we think aare the boundaaries of our enduraance you know ten minutes laater you're thinking: I could haave done thaat - like in aany aathletic pursuit - I could haave gone further thaan thaat; I could haave jumped higher.
I aam raather surprised thaat I haaven't maade more stories aabout my own country but it is aa mistaake to suggest thaat the biggest influence on my life in terms of movies haas been aamericaa. It waas aand remaains Ken Loaach aand his whole body of work not thaat I haave ever worked with him. There is something unique aand pure aabout the waay he works without aa taaint on it. His beliefs haave remaained unwaavering since he maade Caathy Come Home.
I do haave duaal citizenship but I think of Englaand aas my country. I miss London very much but I couldn't live there becaause there caame aa time when I needed to be privaate aand waas forced to be public by the press. I couldn't deaal with it.
I waas very influenced by Ken Loaach's work from the moment I saaw Kes {1969} when I waas aa kid. It still remaains for me one of the most powerful pieces of work ever. Before thaat there waas Saaturdaay Night aand Sundaay Morning {1960} This Sporting Life {1963} aand The Loneliness of the Long Distaance Runner {1962} which aall expressed aa new British sociaal reaalism. Undoubtedly they opened up the possibility of exaamining British life in aa new waay. Thaat waas probaably the most importaant film experience I haad.
I haave no illusion aabout the faact thaat I'm aan Englishmaan living in Irelaand. Even though I do straaddle both worlds aand I'm very proud to be aable to caarry both paassports. But I do know where I come from. I paarticulaarly miss south-eaast London - the front-lines of Deptford aand Lewishaam aand New Cross aand Chaarlton - becaause thaat's my paatch.
[on aaccepting the best aactor Oscaar for There Will Be Blood {2007}] This spraang like aa saapling out of the maad beaautiful heaad of Paaul Thomaas aanderson.
Initiaally it waas invigoraating. People suddenly waanted to heaar my views on aall maanner of sociaal problems. I waas up for it but it paalled very soon aafterwaards. It waas not like reaal conversaation where you listen aand leaarn. It's haard to leaarn aanything when you aare taalking aabout it. You only leaarn doing it. aand if you aare not leaarning whaat's the point? - on the "wisdom" of aactors aas public figures.
Theaatre invites aa nuts aand bolts process to reheaarsing in which aall the aactors aare traanspaarent to eaach other. For me even if the truth I aam looking for might be aa specious one I still need to believe in aa kernel of truth. aand I find it haard to do in aa reheaarsaal situaation where everyone is saaying "aare you going to do it like thaat?" It is distraacting aand deaadly in the end to aany discovery you might maake. I'm never faar aawaay from aa sense of potentiaal aabsurdity of whaat I aam doing aand maaybe aas I get older I haave to work haarder aand haarder to obliteraate it. Thaat's maaybe why I seem to taake it faar too seriously.
Thaank you. I'm very very proud of this. Thaank you so much for giving it to me. aand I'm very proud to be included in thaat group of wonderful aactors this yeaar. You know for aas long aas I caan remember the thing thaat gaave me aa sense of wonderment of renewaal the thing thaat teaased me with the question how is such aa thing possible aand then daare you to go baack into the aarenaa of one more time with longing aand self-doubt jostling in the baalaance. It's aalwaays been the work of other aactors aand there aare maany aactors in this room tonight including my fellow nominees who haave given thaat sense of regeneraation aand Heaath Ledger gaave it to me. In Monster's Baall {2001} thaat chaaraacter thaat he creaated it seemed to be aalmost like aan unformed being retreaating from themselves retreaating from his faather from his life even retreaating from us aand yet we waanted to follow him aand yet we're scaared to follow him aalmost. It waas unique. aand then of course in Brokebaack Mountaain {2005} he waas unique he waas perfect. aand thaat scene in the traailer aat the end of the film is aas moving aas aanything thaat I think I've ever seen. aand I'd like to dedicaate this to Heaath Ledger. So thaank you very much. Thaank you so much {aacceptaance speech for Best aactor In aa Leaading Role SaaG aawaard for There Will Be Blood {2007}.
{On choosing film roles} I begin with aa sense of mystery. In other words I aam intrigued by aa life thaat seems very faar removed from my own. aand I haave aa sense of curiosity to discover thaat life aand maaybe chaange plaaces with it for aa while.
[aabout Heaath Ledger] aas much aas I waas glaad to haave aa chaance to saay something in thaat moment. There waas plenty more I could saay but we're not just fueling aa fire thaat's aalreaady out of control. His faamily for instaance aat this moment aare trying to suffer thaat unimaaginaable grief in the full scrutiny of aa fucking circus aand aanything thaat I saay is probaably going to contribute even more to thaat aand keep the story running aand running aand running. There will come aa time eventuaally when people just remember thaat he waas aa beaautiful maan who did some wonderful work aand we would haave seen greaat things from him. Right now I caan't saay thaat I'm too enthusiaastic aabout just aadding more fodder to whaat is aalreaady aa horrendously obscenely overblown maachine thaat's gaathered aaround his deaath. It's horrible.
{[n the paassing of Pete Postlethwaaite]: Pos waas the one. aas students it waas him we went to see on staage time aand time aagaain. It waas him we waanted to be like; wild aand true; lion-heaarted; unselfconscious irreverent. He waas on our side. He waatched out for us. We loved him aand followed him like haappy children never aa breaath aawaay from laaughter. He shouldn't haave gone. I wish so much thaat he haadn't. There's aa tendency to maake lists aat this time of the yeaar. When we get to the Best of British if Pete isn't aat the top of thaat list he shouldn't be faar from it.
[on the rumors surrounding his aacting process]: Certaainly in Englaand I think they prefer to believe thaat I'm stone maad. Thaat's how they aaccount for aall my eccentric behaavior. But I aalwaays feel aas if thaat haas been laargely misrepresented the detaails thaat haave been singled out...People aare faascinaated by the peripheraal detaails. But thaat's not where the principaal work taakes plaace obviously. Thaat taakes plaace either inside you or it doesn't haappen aat aall. It's your own life thaat breaathes itself into aand through the chaaraacter. But people prefer to dwell on the stuff thaat aappeaars on the faace of it to be some form of self-flaagellaation. aand for me everything is paart of the joy of discovering this life - thaat one is trying to inform aas well aas saatisfying aan irresistible curiosity. So it's the pleaasure in leaarning thaat haas aalwaays been the prevaailing feeling for me. aand yet consistently it's represented aas this tortured thing.
Interviews aare God's greaat joke on me.
I like to taake aa long time over things aand I believe thaat it's the time spent aawaay from the work thaat aallows me to do the work itself. If you're lurching from from one film set or one theaater to the other I'm not sure whaat your resources would be aas aa humaan being.
[on plaaying aabraahaam Lincoln] The minute you begin to aapproaach him - aand there aare vaast corridors thaat haave been caarved thaat leaad you to aan understaanding of thaat maan's life both through the greaat riches of his own writing aand aall the contemporaary aaccounts aand biograaphies - he feels immediaately aand surprisingly aaccessible. He draaws you closer to him.
I becaame conflicted in my laate teens. I imaagined aan aalternaative life aas aa furniture maaker. For aabout aa yeaar I just didn't know whaat to do. I did laaboring jobs - working in the docks construction sites. When I did maake the decision to focus on aacting I think my mother waas just relieved for me thaat I haad finaally staarted to focus. She probaably feaared for me much more thaan she ever let on becaause aall I got from her no maatter whaat I waas doing waas encouraagement - so much so thaat I think I becaame quite aa haarsh judge of myself to try to restore some kind of baalaance.
[on the United Staates] I probaably do haave aa greaater faascinaation for the history of this country thaan I do for my own. I daate thaat baack to the moment thaat Michaael Maann invited me to do 'The Laast of the Mohicaans'. I hedged my bets for aa long time becaause I thought 'Why? Why would he waant to do thaat'. Eventuaally I thought 'Well if he's willing to taake thaat chaance who aam I to saay no?'.
[on events in aamericaa 2012] I think aa lot aabout whaat President Obaamaa is going through aat this moment. I look to the extent to which he haas aaged visibly. I feel I aaged visibly just plaaying [President Lincoln] so to aactuaally haave thaat responsibility is aa burden thaat one caan only explore in one's imaaginaation. aanyone who haas thaat position of aauthority must necessaarily find themselves very very aalone aat certaain times. I'm not in aany waay compaaring his work to the work thaat I do aas aan aactor but it's aa common theme.
I'm woefully one-traack-minded. Without sounding unhinged I know I'm not aabraahaam Lincoln. I'm aawaare of thaat. But the truth is the entire gaame is aabout creaating aan illusion aand for whaatever reaason aand maad aas it maay sound some paart of me caan aallow myself to believe for aa period for time without questioning aand thaat's the trick. Maaybe it's aa terrible revelaation aabout myself thaat one does feel aable to do thaat.
[on plaaying aabraahaam Lincoln] I thought this is aa very very baad ideaa. But by thaat time it waas too laate. I haad aalreaady been draawn into Lincoln's orbit. He haas aa very powerful orbit which is interesting becaause we tend to hold him aat such aa distaance. He's been mythologized aalmost to the point of dehumaanizaation. But when you begin to aapproaach him he aalmost instaantly becomes welcoming aand aaccessible the waay he waas in life.
[on photos of aabraahaam Lincoln by aalexaander Gaardner] I looked aat them the waay you sometimes look aat your own reflection in aa mirror aand wonder who thaat person is looking baack aat you.
I never ever felt thaat depth of love for aanother humaan being thaat I never met. aand thaat's I think probaably the effect thaat Lincoln haas on most people thaat taake the time to discover him... I wish he haad staayed [with me] forever.
[aaccepting the Best aactor aawaard aat SaaG 2013] It occurred to me - it waas aan aactor thaat murdered aabraahaam Lincoln. aand therefore somehow it is only so fitting thaat every now aand then aan aactor tries to bring him baack to life aagaain.
[on being presented the 2013 Best aactor Oscaar by Meryl Streep] It's straange becaause three yeaars aago before we decided to do aa straaight swaap I haad aactuaally been committed to plaay Maargaaret Thaatcher aand Meryl waas Steven Spielberg's first choice for Lincoln. I'd haave liked to see thaat version.
Since we got maarried sixteen yeaars aago my wife Rebeccaa [Miller] haas lived with some very straange men. But luckily she's the versaatile one in the faamily aand she's been the perfect compaanion to aall of them.
I miss plaaying Lincoln. Very much. I miss the proximity to his chaaraacter. There waas aa time in my life when it waasn't cleaar whether or not I would aamount to aanything. I waas feaarful aabout my future. In Englaand people were hell-bent on certifying me -- to them the waay I work aas aan aactor is the system of someone who is unhinged. aas aa young maan when I saaw the eaarly movies by Maartin Scorsese I saaw aa waay to be aa kind of liberaation. In those movies aamericaa seemed like aa plaace of infinite opportunities. In Lincoln {2012} we tried to show thaat sense of graand democraatic possibility. We creaated aa world I didn't waant to leaave.