And if you define it, you kill it dead.'ĭaniel Day-Lewis shifted between theater and film for most of the early 1980s, joining the Royal Shakespeare Company and appearing alongside stars Anthony Hopkins and Sir Laurence Olivier in the 1984 film The Bounty. In talking a character through, you define it. Day-Lewis explained his preparations for roles this way: 'I don't rehearse at all in film if I can help it. Applying the same ethos to drama as he did to woodworking, Day-Lewis became a method actor, devoting himself physically, psychologically, and emotionally to getting in character for each of his roles. He continued to appear in films and plays for several years, during which time he developed into one of the most skilled actors in the profession. In 1972 his father died of pancreatic cancer.Īfter his years at the Bristol Old Vic and several stage appearances, Day-Lewis landed a film role in Gandhi (1982). He was accepted to the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and threw himself fully into the craft of drama. Eventually, he applied to a theater program. Enamored with woodworking and craftsmanship as a teenager, he focused for a time on these pursuits rather than on acting. He shared the Balcon family inclination to act, but he was initially more drawn to working-class pursuits than to the stage. Despite his lack of success in school, Day-Lewis had plenty of other talents. At his new school, he was made fun of by his classmates for being Jewish. His mother, Jill Balcon, was a Jewish actress.ĭay-Lewis's poor behavior at his South London public school prompted his parents to send him to a private school in Kent, called Sevenoaks, but Day-Lewis did not fare much better there.

His father, Cecil Day-Lewis, was a writer who was England's poet laureate for the last four years of his life.

Daniel Day-Lewis was born on April 29, 1957, into a well-to-do and creative family in London, England.

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