The reason remains a mystery

A short statement was published at the time: "Daniel Day-Lewis will no longer work as an actor. He is immensely grateful to all his collaborators and the audience who enjoyed his film projects. It is his private decision and no one, neither himself nor his representatives will comment further."

Day-Lewis employed the "method" acting technique, which entailed intense emotional and physical identification with the character. He did not move from his wheelchair while playing a quadriplegic in the film "My Left Foot," for which he received his first Academy Award in 1989.

He demanded to be spoon-fed even during recording breaks and learned to play records with his toes. In the film "In the Name of the Father," he spent three nights in a cell as an alleged IRA bomber who ends up in prison, and the guards threw cold water on him to simulate the torments of a political prisoner.

During the filming of "The Witch of Salem," he remained in a village without electricity or running water, where he built a house himself using 17th-century tools. He practiced boxing twice a day for three years for his role in "The Boxer," despite breaking his nose and injuring his back.

For "The Age of Innocence," he spent two months walking about New York with a cane and a top hat. He contracted pneumonia while playing Bill the Butcher in "Gangs of New York" because he wore only a flimsy coat in the extreme weather, stating that a heavier fabric would not be "historically realistic."

He spent a year preparing for the role of American President Abraham Lincoln, reading over a hundred biographies and everything he has ever written.

To avoid disrupting his focus, the actors were advised not to talk with a British accent even during the breaks, and before filming, he began sending text messages to his film wife, Sally Field, in the Lincoln style, signing merely A - like Abraham.

Post by Bryan C.