10 Ridiculous Ways Actors Got Into Character For Oscar Nominated Roles

8. Daniel Day-Lewis Refused To Let Anyone Talk To Him In An English Accent - Lincoln

Daniel Day-Lewis is often thought to be the King of Method Acting, pretty much because immersing himself in a bunch of roles has lead to him winning three Oscars for Best Actor (more than any other actor). Say what you will about method acting, but clearly - as far as the Academy are concerned, anyway - it works. Everyone knows that - to prepare for his role in The Last Of The Mohicans - Day-Lewis lived out in the wilderness, and that he took lessons in butchery in order to star as Bill "The Butcher" Cutting in Gangs Of New York. Lesser known, perhaps, is the tactic he employed in order to get inside the head of one Abraham Lincoln for Steven Spielberg's biopic. Aside from staying in character for the length of the shoot and asking that everyone call him "Mr. President," Day-Lewis refused to let anyone on set talk to him in an English accent. His thinking? He didn't want to break the illusion of his performance, basically; hearing anyone speaking the Queen's would have proved jarring, apparently. Well, I never.