Of all the actors who’ve made it in Hollywood over the last several decades, it could be argued that Daniel Day-Lewis is the most fascinating. After all, Day-Lewis likely is the single most respected actor of his generation but he doesn’t seem to care about that adoration all that much. Instead, Day-Lewis appears to work so hard on his performances simply to satisfy his own drive to commit to each of his roles.
Of course, Daniel Day-Lewis is far from the only actor who has done extreme things in order to pull off a role. However, the degree to which Day-Lewis is willing to suffer for his art has become a thing of legend. Even though people tend to be fascinated by tales of Day-Lewis’ method acting, most moviegoers aren’t aware of what led to him becoming sick on the set of Gangs of New York.
One Of A Kind Actor
Even though Daniel Day-Lewis made his big-screen debut in 1971, he has only appeared in 23 films as of the time of this writing. As it turns out, the reason for that is that Day-Lewis was willing to turn down roles in massive projects if he wasn’t passionate about them.
While it is sad that an actor as talented as Daniel Day-Lewis hasn’t appeared in more films, it seems like that is a good thing in a lot of ways. After all, if Day-Lewis didn’t care so much about the roles he has taken on, his performances likely would have suffered. Considering how amazing Day-Lewis was in films like My Left Foot, In the Name of the Father, and Gangs of New York, it’s a good thing he didn’t waste his time starring in other projects.
More Famous Tales
When most people think about Daniel Day-Lewis, the first thing that comes to mind is his stellar performances in a long list of films. However, it won’t take long for most moviegoers to then bring up the various tales of Day-Lewis' commitment to method acting. For example, it is extremely well known that while 2012’s Lincoln was filmed, Day-Lewis was addressed as “Mr. President” on set. While some people may have assumed that Day-Lewis only forced low-level employees to call him that, all of the film’s other stars also called him “Mr. President”.
While it may seem weird that everyone goes along with calling Daniel Day-Lewis by his character’s name on set, he is the one who is making the big sacrifices. In fact, according to reports, Day-Lewis takes things to extremes that are likely to be unimaginable to most moviegoers. For example, in order to get himself into the right headspace to make 1996’s The Crucible, Day-Lewis lived on an island that didn’t have running water or electricity. Furthermore, he built his character’s home from scratch and planted fields with accurate 17-century tools. Amazingly enough, he went through much worse for another film.
While filming the acclaimed 1993 prison drama In the Name of the Father, Daniel Day-Lewis put himself through some pretty extreme circumstances. For example, he is said to have gone on “prison rations” which resulted in him losing 50 pounds and he hired actual officers to interrogate him for three days. Worse yet, Day-Lewis would have himself locked up when not on camera and he encouraged anyone who walked by his cell to berate him or throw cold water on him.
Gangs Of New York Goes Wrong
Of all the films that Daniel Day-Lewis has made during his lengthy career, it could be argued that Gangs of New York was the most impactful. After all, the movie did solid business at the box office, is fondly remembered by viewers, and it won or was nominated for an extremely long list of awards. In fact, many fans consider the film to be practically perfect aside from their issues with Cameron Diaz’s performance in the movie.
Even though it is clear that Daniel Day-Lewis gives his all to any role he takes on, it always seemed likely that he would care about Gangs of New York a little bit more. After all, that film was helmed by one of the best filmmakers of all-time, Martin Scorsese. Either way, it shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that Day-Lewis took method acting to another level while making the movie.
According to reports, Daniel Day-Lewis was a real handful while making Gangs of New York on location in Rome. For example, in an attempt to get into character as the nasty Bill "the Butcher" Cutting, Day-Lewis walked around Rome picking fights with strangers by his own account. If that wasn’t bad enough, since Gangs of New York takes place during the 1800s, Day-Lewis insisted on wearing a period-accurate coat. Unfortunately, the coat simply wasn’t warm enough so Day-Lewis came down with pneumonia. In a move that was so foolish that it is hard to overstate, Day-Lewis then refused to take modern medicine for his ailment and according to some reports, he nearly passed away.