Daniel Day-Lewis names his 10 favourite movies of all time
Talk about the greatest actors of all time, and the first people that come to mind are, no doubt, the likes of Marlon Brando, Jack Nicholson, Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio and Daniel Day-Lewis come to mind, with the latter winning the most amount of Oscars for his leading performances. Having collaborated with the likes of Martin Scorsese, Paul Thomas Anderson, Steven Spielberg, Michael Mann and Jim Sheridan, the actor is known for his short but sweet filmography.
Rising to success in the late 1980s, Day-Lewis won his first Oscar back in 1989, taking home the Academy Award for his portrayal of Christy Brown, a real-life painter who suffered from cerebral palsy. Years later, his 2007 collaboration with Paul Thomas Anderson for There Will Be Blood would earn the actor his second win, shining in the movie alongside the likes of Paul Dano and Ciarán Hinds.
Ever since, Day-Lewis has become an oddity in the film industry, impressing in each and every film he makes an appearance in, from 2012’s Lincoln, which won him his third Academy Award, to 2017’s Phantom Thread, one of the actor’s most underrated movies.
Back when Day-Lewis secured his second Oscar, he found the time to sit down with Cindy Pearlman to discuss some of his favourite movies of all time, with his thoughts being published in the book You Gotta See This. Throughout the conversation, the actor mentioned his fondness for some of his regular collaborators, like Martin Scorsese, as well as a number of other icons.
“The first film I ever saw was Kes. It remains one of my favourites until this day,” the actor stated, making reference to Ken Loach’s 1969 masterpiece, “I can tell you that it’s a heartbreaking film, because it’s about a young boy who is so alone in the world. I felt those same feelings from time to time when I was a young man, and the movie touched those emotions in me”.
Continuing, he brings up one of his all-time favourite actors, stating: “I think I need to choose a Charles Laughton film too, because he was one of the greatest film actors of all time. No one could touch him”. Working with the likes of Billy Wilder, Frank Lloyd and Stanley Kubrick throughout his career, Laughton was an icon of the industry, with Day-Lewis’ favourite of his being 1954’s Hobson’s Choice.
Speaking about the film, he explains: “It’s one of those great films about a man who runs a boot maker’s shop in Salford. He goes to the pub and tries to deal with his daughter. It’s just one of those movies that grips you emotionally, because Charles is so real and you love him”.
Moving onto American cinema, the actor expresses his fondness for 1966’s A Man for All Seasons, calling Paul Schofield’s performance “beautiful”. Going on, however, he adds, “I must mention my good friend Martin Scorsese. What can I say about Mean Streets? It’s one of my favourite films of all time and the first film I ever saw of Martin’s. It was the beginning of my discovery of the whole world of possibilities on the streets of America. I can also sit back and realise now how this film led to Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and the De Niro films”.
Despite having named a number of classics, Day-Lewis has more favourites in the back of his mind, adding, “From Here to Eternity and On the Waterfront, because Brando was a magnificent man. Robert Duvall is also the master, so I wanted to mention Tender Mercies”.
Even after covering the likes of Ken Loach, Martin Scorsese, Charles Laughton and Paul Schofield, the actor still isn’t done, leaving the conversation by dropping in two more Audrey Hepburn movies, Sabrina and Roman Holiday. Speaking about the iconic film star, Day-Lewis exclaims: “I love her. I love everything about her. She was so beautiful…She’s so fresh and her sense of humour is so bewitching. I love her voice. I love her bearing”.
Daniel Day-Lewis’s favourite movies:
- From Here to Eternity (Fred Zinnemann, 1953)
- High Noon (Fred Zinnemann, 1952)
- Hobson’s Choice (David Lean, 1954)
- Kes (Ken Loach, 1969)
- A Man for All Seasons (Fred Zinnemann, 1966)
- Mean Streets (Martin Scorsese, 1973)
- On the Waterfront (Elia Kazan, 1954)
- Roman Holiday (William Wyler, 1953)
- Sabrina (Billy Wilder, 1954)
- Tender Mercies (Bruce Beresford, 1983)
Elsewhere, Day-Lewis also expressed his fondness for the iconic Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly western High Noon, telling The New York Times: “High Noon means a lot to me – I love the purity and the honesty, I love Gary Cooper in that film, the idea of the last man standing”.
