The only actor Steven Spielberg refused to be rejected by: “I was not willing to accept that answer”
You’d think that most actors would be willing to work with Steven Spielberg – one of the most successful filmmakers of all time – at the drop of a hat, but it took the director several years to get a particular star on board to appear in one of his films. However, the wait proved to be worth it, with the finished result receiving high praise and two Oscar wins.
For many years, Spielberg was in the pre-production stages of an epic about Abraham Lincoln, and he had a specific actor in mind to play the American president. Actually getting the star to sign up for the movie was another story, however, forcing Spielberg to chase his tail for over five years. Of course, it was Daniel Day-Lewis that Spielberg was keen to cast in the leading role, knowing that the dedicated and incredibly versatile star had what it took to play such a demanding part.
The director explained to Deadline that “it took a long time” before the actor came round to the idea of signing on to the project. “Daniel certainly had about six years to think about it. But there were really two things going on. The first time around, I offered him not this Lincoln, not the Tony Kushner-written Lincoln, and not the Lincoln written on Doris’ book Team Of Rivals. It was an original Lincoln script that I developed.”
“And that was when he first turned me down to play the character based on what he freely admitted was an intimidation based on the size of the figure of Lincoln himself. I don’t think he ever forgot our encounter, though. And I don’t think he ever forgot the challenge that was offered to him.”
After Day-Lewis turned down the part, Spielberg knew that he couldn’t give up that easily. Who else would have the range and sheer talent to play someone as complicated as Abraham Lincoln? Luckily, a mutual friend managed to convince Day-Lewis to think again.
“My good buddy Leo DiCaprio simply called him up one day and said ‘you need to reconsider this. Steven really wants you for this and he’s not willing to make the movie without you.’ Based on Leo’s phone call to him, Daniel offered to read the Tony Kushner script, which he had never read, and also the Doris Kearns Goodwin book, which he had never read. That’s when the courtship part was over,” Spielberg revealed.
Day-Lewis eventually accepted the part, which won him his third ‘Best Actor’ Academy Award, and proved to be one of the greatest performances of his career. Spielberg admits that he isn’t usually that persistent, but in this case, he knew that only Day-Lewis was right for the role. “I’ve never gone on a campaign before, I pretty much take no for an answer. It’s one of the few times in my entire life where I was not willing to accept that answer,” he explained.
“I couldn’t see Lincoln beyond what I knew Daniel would bring to it. Which was going to be an out-of-body experience that would put us in a real-time encounter with the man, his legacy, and that century.”
