Why Daniel Day-Lewis loves Clint Eastwood
The great American novel. The great American movie. The great American actor. Hollywood has always been obsessed with the American ideal, so it’s no wonder Daniel-Day Lewis felt a little guilty as a Brit for idolising it.
It makes sense given that Hollywood is in America. But the second the Golden Age of movies kicked off and Hollywood studio left more like factories pumping out star after star, blockbuster after blockbuster, the impact of American cinema became global and utterly dominating. It remains the epicentre of the movie business with American actors historically being granted those bigger opportunities partly out of proximity, but also partly because the stereotype of a movie star began to take the shape of an American, and typically an American man.
That comes down to movies like It’s A Wonderful Life where James Stewart’s role as George Bailey was adopted as a kind of all-American ideal and the ultimate, shining lead man. It also comes down to the huge impact of American western flicks were suddenly the cowboy was what every young man seemed to want to be, and what every actor seemed to want to play, and naturally, that cowboy was America.
In the British film scene, there’s tension towards that. Likely in every global film scene there is as amazing movies have forever been stuck in the shadows of the scale and budget American flicks can get. It’s led to a strong sense of identity though. British actors often feel incredibly proud of their heritage, hyping up home grown idols, peers and movies that inspire them.
Daniel Day-Lewis is definitely one of those people. “I was eleven and twelve years old, and two films appeared which utterly changed my life. In 1968 Lindsay Anderson’s film, If came out,” he said, “Then in 1969 Kes came out,” shouting out two deeply impactful films from two British directors. So Day-Lewis is shaped by British movies.
However, there’s a certain guilt to him when he admits that one of his biggest influences isn’t just American, but feels like the ultimate American as he hypes up the work of Clint Eastwood. “I used to go to all-night screenings of his movies,” Day-Lewis said, “I’d stagger out at 5 in the morning, trying to be loose-limbed and mean and taciturn.”
While admittedly not a fan of John Wayne, there was always something about Eastwood that drew him in. “My love for American movies was like a secret that I carried around with me,” he said, as if the desire to be a beacon of British cinema made his love for Eastwood and the American greats a guilty one.
But, as his career progressed and he worked more and more in Hollywood, he opened up, stating, “I always knew I could straddle different worlds. I’d grown up in two different worlds and if you can grow up in two different worlds, you can occupy four. Or six. Why put a limit on it?”
Don’t get him wrong though. “It is a mistake to suggest that the biggest influence on my life in terms of movies has been America,” he said, bringing it all back to the best of British by adding, “It was, and remains, Ken Loach and his whole body of work.”
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