The only actor Steven Spielberg was too scared to question: “I never looked a gift horse on the mouth”
As one of Hollywood’s most powerful figures and its highest-grossing director, Steven Spielberg carries an air of natural authority whenever he walks into a room.
It comes with the territory of being a filmmaker who built their career on continually reinventing the technical and commercial possibilities of the medium, as well as helming the top-earning movie ever released three times over, winning a trio of Academy Awards, and helming countless classics.
He’s also worked with many of the finest thespians to ever grace the silver screen, and one of the many glowing appraisals of Spielberg over the decades has been the sense of collaborative spirit he fosters on his set. No actor is bigger than the film, and the director won’t discard any suggestion, creating a kinship that brings out the best in both parties.
Sometimes, though, the legend knows when to take a step back. If one of his performers wants to commit, then he’s going to let them approach the character in a way that lets them do their finest work. On one occasion, he was even too timid to weigh in with his two cents, which makes sense when it was lauded method man Daniel Day-Lewis he was dealing with.
Having stepped into the breach when Liam Neeson dropped out of the title role, Day-Lewis would always do what he always does and completely immerse himself in the part. Spielberg had done his own exhaustive research into the former president, but he willingly played third fiddle to the relentlessly dedicated actor’s approach.
“I think Daniel, like Tony Kushner, understood Lincoln on a subatomic level, one that goes beyond anything I could articulate,” he told Emanuel Levy. “I never asked Daniel about his process, I never questioned it, I never looked a gift horse in the mouth. I just received it with tremendous gratitude.”
Day-Lewis was left to his own devices, with Spielberg having no idea what kind of Abraham Lincoln he’d created until he turned up on set to start shooting his scenes. Seeing as he won an Oscar for ‘Best Actor’, it can’t be said that it didn’t work.
“I was constantly saying to myself, ‘Don’t get in the way; celebrate these words, capture these performances, get it in the best way you know how,'” he said. “And let the actors cast their long shadows.” It was surprisingly hands-off for a director like Spielberg, but it’s hard to argue with the results.
If any actor could be left completely alone to concoct a characterisation without any input from the person steering the ship who’d guarantee greatness, then Day-Lewis would be near the top of the list. Spielberg was happy to cede creative autonomy to the guy who was eating, sleeping, living, and breathing the part, which worked wonders for a trophy cabinet that was already filled to bursting point.
