Day-Lewis, Daniel
Arts & Entertainment
Daniel Day-Lewis's intense portrayal of Daniel Plainview in "There Will Be Blood" has had critics and fans purring with admiration - and on February 24 brought him an Academy Award for best actor. The level of intensity, talent, and willingness to absorb every fiber of the character he plays sets the English-born Irish citizen apart from any other actor working today.
But this commitment and enormous energy Day-Lewis embodies is of no shock to those who follow his career. (In fact, the all-encompassing passion he brings to his craft may explain why he works so infrequently). From "My Beautiful Laundrette" to his other Oscar-winning turn as Christy Brown in "My Left Foot," the son of Irish-born British Poet Laureate Cecil Day-Lewis has turned in consistently superior performances. And then there is his love affair with Ireland, which far outweighs the several Irish-themed movies he has made. Day-Lewis has held an Irish passport since 1993 and lives in County Wicklow with his wife Rebecca Miller and sons Ronan and Cashel (the actor also has a son, Gabriel, with actress Isabelle Adjani). He was once quoted as saying, "From the day we arrived here, my sense of Ireland's importance has never diminished. Everything here seemed exotic to us. Just the sound of the west of Ireland in a person's voice can affect me deeply." With Oscar, Golden Globe and BAFTA awards in the bag for his role in "There Will Be Blood," another great part surely beckons.
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