10 Method Actors Who Went Unnecessarily Extreme For Movie Roles

3. Daniel Day-Lewis - Lincoln, There Will Be Blood, Gangs Of New York, In the Name of the Father, The Last Of The Mohicans, My Left Foot

Probably the most versatile character actor of our (or any) generation, Daniel Day-Lewis has become famous over the years for playing a slew of unique and entirely distinct characters. In each role, he flawlessly projects himself with different appearances, accents, and mannerisms. It's hard to even tell, unless you look really closely, that the same guy plays Bill the Butcher in "Gangs of New York," Christy Brown in "My Left Foot," and Abraham Lincoln in "Lincoln." So, why is he included on this list of "unnecessarily extreme" roles? This is mainly due to the efforts that Day-Lewis takes to get into character.For each of the films mentioned above, Day-Lewis spend an incredible amount of time researching and preparing for his roles. For example, in "My Left Foot," playing a disabled man in a wheelchair, he met with several paralyzed people in a hospital to do research. But, in addition, he also refused to leave his wheelchair for the entirety of filming, as he felt it would force him to break character. For "The Last of the Mohicans," Day-Lewis underwent weight training, learned to hunt and camp, and even lived off of the land for several weeks, similar to his character in the film itself. And for "Gangs of New York," he even refused to take medication for diagnosed pneumonia, due to the fact that the treatment was not available during the time-period that the film took place.So are Day-Lewis's methods necessary? If all actors devoted themselves in this way, would they also have 3 Best Actor Academy Awards to their name? It's hard to say. I, for one, am glad that there are actors like him out there, the type that choose quality over quantity. But, if it were me, I might not have gone quite so extreme.