The rejection letter Daniel Day-Lewis sent to Steven Spielberg
In 2012, Daniel Day-Lewis gave yet another unbelievable acting performance in Steven Spielberg’s biographical historical drama film Lincoln as the former United States President Abraham Lincoln, with the likes of Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Sally Field and Tommy Lee Jones in support.
The film primarily focused on Lincoln’s steadfast efforts in 1865 to abolish slavery and get the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution passed in the US House of Representatives. Day-Lewis went on to win the ‘Best Actor’ at the Academy Awards for the third time.
However, Day-Lewis had, in fact, turned down the opportunity to play the famous historical figure, even though he’d sat down and discussed the project at length with Spielberg. After consideration, Day-Lewis sent the director a letter explaining why he would not be able to take on the role.
“Dear Steven, It was a real pleasure to just sit and talk with you,” Day-Lewis began. “I listened very carefully to what you had to say about this compelling history, and I’ve since read the script and found it in all the detail in which it describe these monumental events and in the compassionate portraits of all the principal characters, both powerful and moving.”
The letter continued: “I can’t account for how at any given moment I feel the need to explore life as opposed to another, but I do know that I can only do this work if I feel almost as if there is no choice; that a subject coincides inexplicably with a very personal need and a very specific moment in time. In this case, as fascinated as I was by Abe, it was the fascination of a grateful spectator who longed to see a story unfold, rather than that of a participant.”
Day-Lewis is well known for his specific choice of acting roles, and he’s never taken on a film for a payday or just because he fancies it. Every role must find a deep resonance within him so that he can give it all his energy and passion – an inner desire that has led to some of the greatest acting performances of all time.
He signed off his letter: “That’s how I feel now in spite of myself, and though I can’t be sure that this won’t change, I couldn’t dream of encouraging you to keep it open on a mere possibility. I do hope this makes sense Steven, I’m glad you’re making the film. I wish you the strength for it, and I send both my very best wishes and my sincere gratitude to you for having considered me. Daniel.”
The actor had famously turned down Spielberg previously for Schindler’s List, opting to take on Martin Scorsese’s The Age of Innocence instead, so Spielberg must have felt that he had missed out on Day-Lewis for a second time. However, of course, Day-Lewis did indeed play Lincoln – it just took a bit of convincing from Leonardo Di Caprio.
Spielberg once told HuffPost, “I was having dinner with Leonardo DiCaprio, who is a family friend of myself and my wife and he was over at our house and said, ‘What is happening with Lincoln?’ And I told him the whole story with Daniel, about how he had turned me down many years ago. The next day Leo called me in the office and gave me Daniel’s cell phone number. Leo had called Daniel and said, ‘You have just got to talk to this guy.’ And that’s what started it rolling.”
