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Sir Daniel Michael Blake Day-LewisΒ (born 29 April 1957) is an English and Irish actor.Β Often described as one of the greatest actors in the history of cinema, he is best known for intenseΒ method acting portrayed with eccentric characters inΒ auteur films. He is the recipient ofΒ numerous accolades includingΒ a recordΒ threeΒ Academy Awards for Best Actor as well as fourΒ BAFTAs, threeΒ Screen Actors Guild AwardsΒ and twoΒ Golden Globes. In 2014, Day-Lewis received aΒ knighthoodΒ for services to drama.
Born and raised in London, Day-Lewis excelled on stage at theΒ National Youth TheatreΒ before being accepted at theΒ Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, which he attended for three years. Despite his traditional training he is considered a method actor, known for his constant devotion to and research of his roles. Protective of his private life, he rarely grants interviews and makes very few public appearances.
Day-Lewis shifted between theatre and film for most of the early 1980s, joining theΒ Royal Shakespeare CompanyΒ and playingΒ Romeo MontagueΒ inΒ Romeo and JulietΒ andΒ FluteΒ inΒ A Midsummer Night's Dream. Playing theΒ title roleΒ inΒ HamletΒ at theΒ National TheatreΒ in London in 1989, he left the stage midway through a performance after breaking down during a scene where theΒ ghost of Hamlet's fatherΒ appears before himβthis was his last appearance on the stage.Β After supporting film roles inΒ GandhiΒ (1982) andΒ The BountyΒ (1984), he earned acclaim for his breakthrough performances inΒ My Beautiful LaundretteΒ (1985),Β A Room with a ViewΒ (1985), andΒ The Unbearable Lightness of BeingΒ (1988).
He earned three Academy Awards for Best Actor for his roles asΒ Christy BrownΒ inΒ My Left Foot (1989),Β oil tycoonΒ Daniel Plainview inΒ There Will Be BloodΒ (2007), andΒ Abraham LincolnΒ inΒ LincolnΒ (2012). He was Oscar-nominated forΒ In the Name of the FatherΒ (1993),Β Gangs of New YorkΒ (2002), andΒ Phantom ThreadΒ (2017). Other notable films includeΒ The Last of the Mohicans (1992),Β The Age of InnocenceΒ (1993),Β The CrucibleΒ (1996), andΒ The BoxerΒ (1997). He retired from acting twice, from 1997 to 2000 when he took up a new profession as an apprenticeΒ shoe-makerΒ in Italy, and from 2017 to 2024. In 2025, he starred in and co-wroteΒ Anemone, directed by his sonΒ Ronan.
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