When You Actually Become the Character - Daniel Day-Lewis

three best actor Oscars across three different decades a handful of the most iconic performances ever seen on screen and the honor of Knighthood Daniel de Lewis is one of a kind when discussing the greatest actors of all time two names often come up Marlin Brando and Daniel de Lewis Brando was a pioneer of method acting a form of acting in which one understands and truly embodies the character but Brando walked so de Lewis could run because Daniel D Lewis truly transforms into his characters with an unmatched level of intensity both on and off screen we're talking about only using one foot while on set spending a few days in a jail cell and even dedicating a year to learning how to make dresses for a role there's a list of extraordinary things he has done to prepare or immerse himself in a character that I had to triple check to make sure I was reading it right this is by far the most interesting video we've made about a person a prestigious and private actor so selective that he has only starred in six films this Century so in this video we're diving into all of the best moments of Daniel de lewis' career both on and off screen that really prove he's one of the best Daniel de Lewis was born in London in 1957 to an Irish father and a Jewish mother after relocating at a young age he was bullied at school for sounding different so he embarked on his first performance attempting to fit in by mastering the local accent once settled he became a Troublesome child so his film debut at age 14 as a child Vandal in Sunday Bloody Sunday was quite fitting he discovered his passion for acting while attending a boarding school alongside his interest in fishing and woodworking he continued to pursue these passions even doing well in a youth theater in London however in 1975 when it came time to choose a career he initially opted for woodworking applying for a 5-year cabinet making apprenticeship which he did not get due to a lack of experience so he settled on becoming one of the greatest actors of all time and attended the Bristol Old Vic theater school for 3 years he began the 1980s actively involved in the theater scene Landing leading roles in another country in Romeo and Juliet during this time he also made appearances in some TV films and shows and had his first major film appearance with a minor role in 1982's Gandhi his first actual supporting role came in 1984 as the Bounty where he portrayed the sailing Master John frier but I protest you protest do you I am Master of the B and I said I'm Commander by law and while his performance was well received he remained relatively unknown and overshadowed by the two leads Anthony Hopkins and Mel Gibson however he didn't have to wait long for recognition because the following year his film career really took off my beautiful LR in a room with a view were his next two films in the former he played a lower class gay X Punk while in the latter he portrayed a snobby pretentious wealthy man from the early 20th century D Lewis killed both roles receiving praise from critics and stood out in both critically acclaimed films but what's most interesting is that although my beautiful LR was released in 1985 in a room with a view in 1986 both premiered in New York City on the same day us audiences and critics were stunned by the versatility of this a relatively unknown actor I couldn't leave him not now I somehow think that you feel more at home with me in a room never in the real country like this and while there are no anecdotes about his method acting for these two roles given his consistency throughout his career it's pretty safe to assume he remained in character offset he appeared in a few lesser-known films and made more TV appearances before taking on the lead role in 1987's the unbearable lightess of being here he p bet trayed a cha surgeon and even learned CH for the role despite the film being shot in English when I watched you dancing with another man I thought to myself he could be her lover this dedication to truly embodying the character paid off because the film received critical Acclaim with de lewis' portrayal praised for its raw intensity and emotional depth by this time de Lewis made quite the name for himself being grouped with the most promising young British actors such as Gary Oldman Tim Roth and Colin F however he was about to set himself apart from them in 1989 with his next film my left foot in this film he played Christy Brown an Irish born man with Cal paly who became a writer and artist despite only being able to control his left foot Daniel de Lewis took method acting to the extreme for this role to the point of frustrating crew members he remained in character offset confined to a wheelchair and only performing tasks that brown could do except using his right foot instead which they film through a mirror to correct crew members sometimes had to feed him and lift him over onset obstacles such as wires while this dedication was lotted by critics crew members weren't always happy with him he even suffered physical injuries from his method acting damaging two ribs from being hunched over for weeks prior to filming he forged friendships with disabled individuals in Dublin to better understand their experience and by extension Brown's daily life his efforts paid off the film was a critical and Commercial Success with de lewis' commitment to the role recognized with his first best actor Oscar wi that same year he returned to the theater and started as the titular character in Hamlet at the National Theater in London but during the scene where Hamlet sees his father's ghost de LS broke down and left the stage some say it was due to exhaustion or a feeling of talking with his deceased father but deis himself said I had to leave the stage because I was an empty vessel I had nothing in me nothing to say nothing to give this theme of respecting the craft so much that he refrains from performing when he feels he has nothing to offer would recur throughout his career hence the many breaks and retirements but this performance of Hamlet was his last appearance ever on stage the publicity surrounding this meltdown contributed to De Lewis becoming much more private he moved to Ireland in the mid 9s to live a quiet life away from the media however not everyone can simply mov to another country to gain some privacy fortunately today's sponsor can help you with your privacy on top of doing YouTube I also work a full-time job in a position where people and companies want to sell you all sorts of stuff my information was on a bunch of person personal information brokerage sites like Zoom info for example this included my parents' home phone number from when I used to live there I constantly got spam and sales calls from companies trying to sell me their products or Services my parents even got phone calls from these companies if they couldn't get a hold of me directly it's a real nuisance because the spam callers and salespeople 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the video The '90s Marked the busiest decade of Daniel D Lewis's career with him taking on five lead roles it really shows you how selective he is when you compare him to someone like John Travolta who appeared in 18 films during that same decade each of those five roles pushed him to learn new skills to better understand the characters and he always stayed in character even when the the cameras weren't rolling in 1992 he started in Michael man's The Last of the Mohicans where he portrayed a white man adopted by the Mican tribe during 18th century French and Indian War my death is a great honor to the hon take me you tell him for this role he got fit learned to make canoes trained in hand-to-hand combat and shooting under the guidance of a US army colonel and even carried a heavy flint lock on him at all times while filming but that's not all he spent a month living in the wild in the region his character could have come from from honing his survival skills despite the challenges the film was a huge hit with his performance hailed as the heart and soul of the film nothing short of iconic combining rugged intensity with emotional depth up next in 1993 he collaborated with Martin Scorsese in Age of Innocence where he played a wealthy 19th century lawyer in New York City does she love you too there is no other woman I mean the person that may was thinking of was never true to his method D Lewis spent 2 months wandering around New York City dressed in clothes matching his character's wardrobe he also didn't speak at all to Richard E Grant throughout filming who played his rival only breaking his silence on the final day to thank him for putting up with his cold Behavior critics love the film praising the entire cast in Scorsese with d Lewis's performance in particular for its complex subtlety and restraint drawing comparisons to Lawrence Olivier despite not receiving an Oscar nomination like his co-star Winona Ryder he did earn one that same year for his next role in 1993 is in the name of the father de Lewis reunited with my left foot director Jim Sheridan where he played Jerry Conlin an Irish man wrongly implicated in Ira bombing in London it's based on a true story and to understand the real conin de Lewis put himself through a similar experience he spent 3 days in a jail cell without water and told crew members to dump cold water on him and verbally abuse him whenever they walk by they also made him sleep deprived by banging on the cell walls he also lost 50 lbs or 23 kgs beforehand and adopted a northern Irish accent throughout filming the film received critical Acclaim with de Lewis's performance described as haunting and Unforgettable vividly depicting the emotional and psychological toll of wrongful imprisonment I swear to God I know where I was the time of the bom in 1996 he reunited with Rona Ryder in The Crucible portraying a Salem farmer amidst the 17th century Salem Witch Trials then explain to me why you will not because it is my name true to form D Lewis fully immersed himself in the character spending 2 months on the island filming location living as a farmer before they filmed he lived without running water or electricity used 17th century tools to farm and even built his character's house off camera he remained in character reportedly refusing to bathe or shower throughout the shoot though praised for his raw and Powerful protrayal the film struggled at the box office garnering mixed reviews from critics and then he closed out the decade with another collaboration with director Jim Sheridan starring in 1997's the boxer playing a former Ira member who spent 14 years in prison and has a new you go at Life by being a boxer you're not ready you had enough son I'll tell you when I've had enough for this role he spent at least 18 months training with professional boxers in Ireland and was coached by Barry mcgan he apparently became so good at boxing that mcgan said D Lewis could have held his own against some of the top boxers at the time the boxer received pretty good reviews earning D Lewis a Golden Globe nomination the film was actually more of a drama than a traditional Sports film but like each of his films before the training was about getting in into character they didn't film him surviving months in the wilderness or spending 3 days in jail for him it's always been about understanding the character but I think in some of the Lesser extreme cases like learning to box or making canoes it's evident that he's very passionate about exploring and learning new skills and his dedication to his roles kind of gave him a long list of unique hobbies and talents after the boxer he announced his semi-retirement from acting and it makes more sense now he returned to Woodworking and even apprenticed as a shoem maker in Florence under Stefano bmer embracing a quiet life away from the press that is until Scorsese persuaded him to come out of retirement for his next film it's kind of crazy how we still have four of his most iconic roles to cover yet he's only been in six films after the boxer in 2002's Gangs of New York Daniel de Lewis Stars alongside Leonardo DiCaprio as William cting also known as Bill the Butcher a leader of a 19th century New York gang and may the Christian Lord guide my hand against a Roman popery the real Bill the Butcher was a skill knife user so it only made sense that D Lewis was an apprentice at a butcher shop and even hired circus performers to teach him how to throw daggers to simulate Bill's fake eye he covered his eyeball with prosthetic glass and learned to tap on it with a knife without blinking and you could say he took method acting a little too far at times he caught pneumonia during filming and refused to wear warmer clothing or seek treatment because that didn't match the time period they were filming in luckily he was eventually convinced to get treatment and like with all of his films he stayed in character 24/7 if you've watched the film you know Bill the Butcher is a little too intense to be around for too long apparently he went out to eat with Scorsese and DiCaprio after filming one day remaining in character to the point where the waitress was afraid to go near him but the end result was nothing short of mesmerizing one of his most iconic performances the film received pretty good reviews with 10 Oscar nominations including one for D Lewis but the standout of the film was by far D Lewis and his terrifying performance described as bringing both ferocious energy and magnetic Charisma I've never seen a character steal every scene they're in quite like this one but what was most impressive was just how much he disappeared into the role it's pretty shocking watching a de Lewis interview about the film where he's so soft spoken and articulate just so that Martin knows it he's Sur he's got a core group of people around him that he can count on while he played one of the most terrifyingly charismatic movie villains ever he then starred in 2005's The Ballad of Jack and Rose written and directed by his wife Rebecca Miller D Lewis played a farmer living on an isolated island with his daughter his character craves contact with other people and believes he and his daughter need a woman around so to get into character and really understand this feeling of isolation de Lewis lived separately from his wife and spent as much time away from her as he could the film didn't do too well garnering mixed reviews but no one had a problem with de lewis' performance but in 2007 he cranked his method acting up to 11 again with undoubtedly the most iconic performance of his career as Daniel Plan View and There Will Be Blood he portrayed the greedy oal prospector in such an unhinged and frightening way that you see Zero remnants of De Lewis in the character say it louder I've abandoned my child I've abandoned my child director Paul Thomas Anderson wrote the script with Daniel de Lewis in mind after learning he was a fan of punch drunk love an earlier film of Anderson's When de Lewis saw the script it was like a match made in heaven and he easily accepted the role which is quite an accomplishment considering how selective he has been at this point in his career to prepare he listened to many recordings from the late 19th to early 20th century to perfect his voice he spent a lot of time researching laborers and oil tycoons of that period delving into letters and photographs to understand their behavior he meticulously crafted a menacing and precise character that he portrayed on and off set a role that he apparently spent 3 years preparing for one of the advantages of fully embodying a character is the ability to improvise dialogue that the writer never thought of while working seamlessly within the narrative D Lewis improvised some of the speeches in the film and Anderson loved them he remained in character so consistently throughout the film that the one time he broke character the clip became came viral and honestly hats off to the kid who had to work with Daniel Plan view for all those months the child's mother was initially terrified at the thought of her son working with D Lewis after watching Gangs of New York to check him out and rightly so but she calmed down a bit after seeing one of his more civilized roles in the Age of Innocence There Will Be Blood ended up being a hit with everyone in all departments delivering their best work it garnered eight Oscar nominations including two wins one of which was another best actor Oscar for Daniel D Lewis making him the eighth actor to achieve this described as the performance of a lifetime nothing short of masterful and a performance that will be studied and revered for generations to come Daniel deis says Daniel Plan view was an all I drink your milkshake there are many great YouTube videos that analyze this performance so well make sure to check the film out because it's one of our favorites here at film stack and finally Daniel de Lewis rounded off the decade with a rare Miss in 2009 with nine where he portrayed an Italian filmmaker musical [Music] drama despite initially planning to take a break after There Will Be Blood he thought that starring in this film would be a great experience he underwent accent lessons to master the Italian accent devoted 5 hours a day to singing and dancing lessons and remain in character both on and offset the film received pretty negative reviews with critics criticizing its clunkiness and lack of catchy Tunes although much praise was directed towards Mary and C y d Lewis still received some even getting a Golden Globe nomination some critics were disappointed that the film tarnished D Lewis's near-perfect film career but at least we got to see his singing on film and he was quite good Daniel de Lewis made history with his next role in 2012's Lincoln directed by Steven Spielberg de Lees portrays the titular character Abraham Lincoln and it follows the final months of his life and on its way to ratification by the states wrapped the whole slavery thing up forever and I as soon as I'm able now it was actually challenging ing to persuade D Lewis to accept the role because he doubted he could portray such an iconic historical figure however once Spielberg convinced him with a bit of help from decaprio De leis dove in without hesitation he approached the role with the utmost respect spending a year preparing by reading over 100 books about linkoln to really understand every part of him once he developed the character and became Lincoln he didn't switch off at all over the 3 months of filming this included having everyone including Spielberg address him as Mr President speaking in Lincoln's voice the entire time and adopting the same mannerisms he delved so deeply into studying and portraying Lincoln that he famously said I never ever felt that depth of love for another human being that I have never met I wish he had stayed with me forever the film was a hit on all fronts with his performance at the center of attention he delivered such a powerful performance that received unanimous praise with everyone agreeing that it didn't seem like D Lewis was acting but that he was Lincoln because the film focused on such an important historical figure it attracted many historians and you'd think they'd nitpick a lot of it but de LS portrayed Lincoln in a way so close to how they imagined he'd be from The Voice to the awkward mannerisms even down to his walk for his efforts he won his third best actor Oscar the only actor to ever do so but soon after winning he announced he was taking a break from acting for a bit when he won his second Oscar for There Will Be Blood he knelt in front of Helen mirin who jokingly knighted him and he said that's the closest I'll ever come to getting a Knighthood so thank you well in 2014 he was actually kned by Prince William for his services to drama now onto his final film 2017's Phantom threat reuniting with Paul Thomas Anderson here he played Reynolds Woodcock a renowned British dress maker in the 1950s what happened to make you behave like this is it because you think I don't need you so what did D Lewis do to prepare he spent a year learning how to make dresses working for the New York City Ballet head of the costume department and by the end of his training he was able to recreate a Balenciaga dress learning these skills along with his deep Research into 1940s and 50s fashion shows and designers gave him a much deeper understanding of his character with all this research he also collaborated with Anderson on the script to the point where Anderson said D Lewis could have some kind of co-writing credit as always he remained in character throughout filming and everyone on set referred to him as Reynolds the film was a hit with critics with praise goinging to everyone especially de lewis' performance his portrayal was said to have captured the character's Obsession and vulnerability with haunting authenticity it's a character with many layers and he showed each layer with such prec decision a very different performance than Bill the Butcher and Daniel Plan view it was much more delicate for this role he received yet another Oscar nomination and it would be his last nomination ever because before the film was released he announced he was officially retiring from acting he said he loves acting but that it's time to explore the world in a different way now adding I dread to use the overused word artist but there's something of the responsibility of the artist that hung over me I need to believe in the value of what I'm doing and if an audience believes it that should be good enough for me but lately it isn't but can you really blame him for retiring his approach to acting must be very physically and mentally demanding he becomes a new character for a few years learning every single thing about the character it probably affected his wife as well I can't imagine having to live with Bill the Butcher for a few years but I think it really comes down to Passion he was always passionate about so many things it seemed like when he took on a role he was less passionate with the actual process of acting than the preparation for the role he never cared for the actor's life he's very private and doesn't appear in any interviews when he came back from retirement to starring Gangs of New York he didn't have any regrets about not acting for so long and that I didn't feel the time passing I was very happily doing other things it took a lot of convincing to come out of retirement last time but it happened so who knows if he'll come out of retirement again for all we know he could already be years deep into preparing for his next role all we know is that every actor can breathe a sigh of relief because they won't have to compete with D Lewis for an Oscar again so is Daniel de Lewis one of the best actors I think the definitive answer is yes he's a generational talent and has the performances and awards to back it up some people roll their eyes when they hear the words method acting there's the famous Dustin Hoffman story where he didn't sleep for 72 hours to be as tired as his character in Marathon Man to which Lawrence Olivia just asked why don't you try acting and then there are all those weird Jared Leto as Joker stories like sending rats to people but Daniel de Lewis was doing something much more he was really becoming the character to the point where you couldn't even tell he was acting his versatility and Devotion to his roles should always have his name being dropped when discussing the greats so there you have it Sir Daniel de Lewis's incredible career do you think he's one of the greatest actors of all time share your thoughts below if you enjoyed the video drop a like And subscribe and check out our patreon for some cool perks but until next time have a good one

Channel: FilmStack

Views: 387,152

Keywords: best actor of all time, most Oscar wins, Daniel day lewis, there will be blood, best performances of all time, Daniel plainview, gangs of new york, bill the butcher, Martin scorsese, The Last of the Mohicans, Age of Innocence, My Left Foot, In the Name of the Father, The Crucible, The Boxer, Lincoln 2012, Phantom Thread, most dedicated actor, best 90s actor, scariest actor, method acting, craziest actor of all time, most promising actor, A Room with a View

Id: uUyGJFPJZWw

Length: 21min 50sec (1310 seconds)

Published: Wed May 22 2024