Actor Daniel Day-Lewis was quite determined while preparing for the role of Abraham Lincoln in Steven Spielberg’s 2012 movie, Lincoln. In fact, the actor made one specific demand that increased the workload on casting directors.
No doubt that Day-Lewis did a great job at portraying the 16th United States president, however, his acting approach was quite strange. In order to accurately portray Lincoln’s height in the movie, Day-Lewis wanted to be the tallest actor on the sets. Abraham Lincoln’s height was 6 foot 4 inches, while Day-Lewis is 6 foot 1 inch tall. So, while shortlisting actors, it was important to note that they were shorter than Day-Lewis.
Daniel Day-Lewis wanted to be the tallest person on the sets of Lincoln (2012)
Actor Daniel Day-Lewis completely indulged himself in the process of portraying the 16th United States president, Abraham Lincoln, in Steven Spielberg‘s 2012 movie, Lincoln. His method acting went too far, to the point where he made a strange demand.
One of the things that set Lincoln apart from other people back then was his height, Lincoln was 6 foot 4 inches, so Day-Lewis wanted to be the tallest person on the sets. In an interview with The Los Angeles Times, Day-Lewis recalled that he and Spielberg used to check the height of an actor before casting them,
“Every time Steven said, ‘How ’bout so and so?’ I said, ‘How tall is he?’ It was like buying cloth by the yard. I wanted to be the tallest person in the room.”
Lincoln also featured some other iconic Hollywood stars like Sally Field, David Strathairn, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, James Spader, Hal Holbrook, and Tommy Lee Jones. The film was a massive success, earning 12 nominations at the 85th Academy Awards.
Daniel Day-Lewis spent one year preparing for the role
Day-Lewis, who has stated in the past that playing the role felt like a “disturbing privilege,” revealed that he had to use his imagination while preparing for the role, mainly because there are not a lot of videos of the former president. In the same interview with The LA Times, the actor recalled,
“All that we know of him are the static images. Everything else is up for grabs. What usually happens for me if I’m lucky – if I’m lucky – is that I begin to hear a voice at some point in my inner ear and if it pleases me I then set about the work of trying to reproduce it. And that’s it. I talk to myself a lot.”
He reportedly spent one year going through Lincoln’s writings and available material. In the end, all that effort paid off as Day-Lewis won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his work in the movie. On a budget of $65 million, the film grossed over $275 million at the global box office, making it a financial success as well.
Lincoln (2012) is available for rent on Apple TV+.
Source: The Los Angeles Times
