Daniel Day-Lewis and a Method Acting Life Lesson
Stop method acting and start living as a more authentic you
What's your identity? Do you feel you're staying true to it? Some people say how we act when nobody is watching says a lot about us.
Daniel Day-Lewis is the only man with three Oscars for Best Actor. Lewis is known in the industry as a "method actor." That means he doesn't just play a character; he becomes that character. He works as much as possible to inhabit the lives of the characters he portrays. It's said that he doesn't ever break out of character once he assumes the role.
The stories are legendary. Lewis' first Oscar win came in 1989 for the film, My Left Foot. The film was based on a true story about a writer and artist with cerebral palsy. The actor never left his wheelchair during production and was spoonfed meals by the crew.
For the 1992 film, The Last of the Mohicans, he prepared for his role by spending six months in the wilderness regions of Alabama. He camped in the woods, learned to hunt and fish, and lived off the land.
The 1992 film, Gangs of New York, was shot in Rome during the winter. Daniel Day-Lewis refused to wear any clothing that wasn't authentic, period. So nothing that didn't exist in the mid-nineteenth century. The cold brought him…
