Daniel Day Lewis in Lincoln
Daniel Day Lewis is an actor who works sparingly and yet selects his roles wisely - because of that he only takes on great roles and delivers fantastic performances.
He is back on the big screen this week with new movie Lincoln, which sees him team up with director Steven Spielberg.
Day-Lewis takes on the role of Abraham Lincoln in a film that follows his fight to abolish slavery and bring the Civil War to an end.
He has once again picked up a Best Actor Oscar in what is his fifth nomination of his career. To celebrate the release of the movie we take a closer look at Day-Lewis’ Oscar nominated performances.
My Left Foot
Daniel Day-Lewis has already made a stir with his performances in the likes of My Beautiful Laundrette and A Room With A View but it was in 1989 that he was nominated for an Oscar for the very first time.
Directed by Jim Sheridan the movie followed the true story of Christy Brown, who was born with cerebral palsy and could only control his left foot.
Day-Lewis took on the role of Brown in the movie and it is an earnest and emotional performance from the action which gained him a lot of praise.
He went up against Kenneth Branagh, Tom Cruise, Morgan Freeman and Robin Williams for the Best Actor Oscar and was triumphant while his co-star Brenda Fricker won Best Supporting Actress for her superb turn.
In The Name of the Father
In 1993 he was in the Oscar spotlight again as he picked a second Best Actor nod for his central role in In The Name of the Father.
The movie saw him reunite with My Left Foot director Jim Sheridan to tell another true story about the Guildford Four.
The Guildford Four were falsely convicted of the IRA’s Guildford pub bombings and the film was based on the autobiography Prove Innocent: The Story of Gerry Conlon and the Guildford Four by Gerry Conlon.
And it was the role of Conlon that Day-Lewis played in the hard hitting movie that also starred Emma Thompson and Pete Postlethwaite.
In The Name of the Father was a huge critical success and Day-Lewis’ performance was once again heavily praised as he really got under the skin of this character to deliver a devastating performance.
He once again picked up a Best Actor Oscar nod but he lost out to Tom Hanks for Philadelphia.
Gangs of New York
The actor took some time away from the big screen after 1997 but was tempted back by director Martin Scorsese and the role of Bill ‘The Butcher’ Cutting in Gangs of New York.
Set in 1863 the movie follows Amsterdam Vallon who returns to the Five Points area of New York City seeking revenge against Bill the Butcher, his father's killer.
This was a very different performance from Day-Lewis that we have ever seen before as it allowed him to be slightly outrageous and over the top with his performance - but he never crossed that line where it became ridiculous.
He has a real menace when he was in a scene and had the most commanding presence of his career to date.
Leonardo DiCaprio and Cameron Diaz were also on the cast list and the movie was a big critical success and went on to be nominated for ten Oscars.
Another Best Actor nod came the way of Day-Lewis but he was denied again as the gong went to Adrien Brody for The Pianist.
There Will Be Blood
2007 brought the actor the most acclaimed role of his career as he took on the character of Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood.
Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson the movie was loosely based on the novel Oil! by Upson Sinclair.
The film followed a gold miner turned oilman who was only interested in making money - happy to sweep people aside in the process.
It was a flawless performance from Day-Lewis as he dark and ruthless side was once again on full show.
On the award’s circuit he won just about everything and he was the smoking hot favourite for the Best Actor Oscar.
He went up against George Clooney, Johnny Depp, Tommy Lees Jones and Viggo Mortensen and was triumphant.
Lincoln
He has bagged a fifth Best Actor nomination for his performance as Abraham Lincoln in the Spielberg directed movie and has already won the Golden Globe.
In a nation divided by war and the strong winds of change, Lincoln pursues a course of action designed to end the war, unite the country and abolish slavery.
With the moral courage and fierce determination to succeed, his choices during this critical moment will change the fate of generations to come.
Day-Lewis has been the favourite to scoop the Best Actor Oscar for his performance but he does face some tough competition from
Bradley Cooper, Hugh Jackman, Joaquin Phoenix and Denzel Washington.
Day-Lewis is in a small group of actors, including Sean Penn and Jack Nicholson, who have won two Best Actor Oscars but he would make history next month as the first man to win a third.
Lincoln is out now. The Oscar winners will be revealed 24th February
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