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Something about me? I have been a nerdy cinephile for as long as I can remember. Putting the two together is living my best life. That notwithstanding, I was born to express, not to impress, so I blog because I don't have friends. In other news, I like hashtags because they look like waffles, prefer my puns intended, and I always give 100% unless I'm donating blood. Thanks for reading.
Hollywood is teeming with GOATed individuals, but three words make them gruff in awe–Daniel Day-Lewis.
The three-time Academy Award-winning Best Actor retired “Barry Sanders-style” from acting, leaving the entire motion picture industry flummoxed with remorse and regret. In 2017, Daniel Day-Lewis was at the top of his game. The actor is like Tom Brady in football or Messi in soccer. He has lost more nominations than some thespians ever sniff in their career.
For those keeping score, he owns a 65.5% winning rate for any film award. If his name graces a ballot, the odds are greatly in his favor. Throughout his illustrious career, he earned 212 nominations and won 139 times. For Oscar alone, he has a monstrous six Best Actor nominations. Then, he was given half of those—My Left Foot (1989), There Will Be Blood (2007), and Lincoln (2012).
Day-Lewis is a freak of nature and the literal embodiment of his roles. Suddenly, the recluse showed up to present Martin Scorsese with the National Board of Review’s Best Director award for Killers of the Flower Moon. People fanboyed and fangirled all over themselves, namely when Martin Scorsese said this:
That sound you heard was butts puckering from the Hollywood Hills and landing in the actor’s home of Wicklow, Ireland. Why? Can you imagine if that actually happened?!
Will Daniel Day-Lewis Go for a Scorsese Trifecta?
The British-gone-Irish actor first worked with Martin Scorsese in 1993’s The Age of Innocence. In the film, Daniel Day-Lewis plays a New York lawyer in the 1870s. He marries Winona Ryder, represents Michelle Pfeiffer, and eyes all the ladies. The movie wistfully navigates the entanglements between being the person everyone thinks you are versus the other person you are when no one is looking.
If you’re a Daniel Day-Lewis fan and haven’t heard of this film before, don’t worry. It’s one of only a couple of movies that didn’t earn a single award nomination. For him, that’s a definite anomaly. The next time Scorsese and Day-Lewis met, things were much different in 2002. That’s when he became one of the preeminent characters in motion picture history with Bill “The Butcher” Cutting in the prevailing period piece, Gangs of New York. In 2017, he acted as this misanthrope fashion designer in Phantom Thread. Of course, it’s a period piece. Naturally, Day-Lewis is engrossed as the character and, yes, Best Actor nominations everywhere.
Then, POOF! He turned into a pumpkin and cinephiles have missed him ever since. Fast forward 6.5 years later, and did Martin Scorsese just mic drop the largest tease in Hollywood since it was heard that Walt Disney’s body is cryogenically kept chilled with a nice demiglaze underneath Disneyland?
Methodically Speaking, Will It Happen?
Today, Daniel Day-Lewis is a man, but is more myth. A 66-year-old actor often considered “The World’s Greatest Actor.” He is beloved among all his colleagues for the bizarre dedication Day-Lewis exudes to “become” the part. He is the only human to win three “Best Actor” awards. If you know anyone who has seen My Left Foot, they can’t describe how mesmerizing the role is.
Daniel Day-Lewis is to “Method Acting” what self-flagellation is to 11th Century Roman Catholic priests and missionaries. (Look it up.) Scorsese isn’t a cryptic prankster. Neither is Day-Lewis.
We did two films together, and it was one of the greatest experiences of my life,” Scorsese noted before adding, “Maybe there’s time to do one more?”
If the 81-year-old legend behind the camera wants to go around the bend a third time with the force of nature, he needs to hurry. Daniel Day-Lewis’ preparation process is legendary. To become Abraham Lincoln, he remained “as Lincoln” for 2.5 years–morning, noon, and night. He disappears into the role so the creation and muse can take the spotlight. And now, it could happen again. Well, we can always hope.
Something about me? I have been a nerdy cinephile for as long as I can remember. Putting the two together is living my best life. That notwithstanding, I was born to express, not to impress, so I blog because I don't have friends. In other news, I like hashtags because they look like waffles, prefer my puns intended, and I always give 100% unless I'm donating blood. Thanks for reading.
This article was edited by John Tangalin.