Daniel Day-Lewis Had Two Strict Rules On The Set Of Steven Spielberg's Lincoln

Method actors are a different breed. Consider Dustin Hoffman. The notoriously intense performer habitually put his directors through their paces by hurtling himself deep into character. It wasn't enough for Hoffman to study the screenplay like it was holy writ; he had to get himself on the same emotional frequency as his characters, even if this meant endangering his physical and mental health. This is what he did on the set of John Schlesinger's "Marathon Man" prior to shooting the classic torture scene wherein Laurence Olivier's Nazi dentist literally attempts to drill information out of him. Hoffman, who was already contending with a divorce at the time, not only deprived himself of sleep but made the hard-partying scene at Studio 54. By the time he was seated in front of Olivier, he was a sweaty, addled mess, which prompted the planet's greatest living Shakespearean actor at the time to ask his co-star, "Dear boy, why don't you try acting?"

Is a great performance worth this much tsuris? You'd have to ask not just the actor, but the cast that has to deal with their tortured antics. In the case of Daniel Day-Lewis taking on the role of the Great Emancipator in Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln," the oddness was evidently not as disruptive as it could've been.

When Spielberg cast Daniel Day-Lewis as Abraham Lincoln, the actor sought to immerse himself in the former president's 19th milieu. He also, quite simply, wanted to be the man. So much so, Day-Lewis insisted that everyone on set, if they chose to engage him, address him as "Mr. Lincoln" or "Mr. President." Spielberg was not exempt from this request.

Day-Lewis' desire to disappear was so fervent that he demanded his castmates from the United Kingdom refrain from speaking in their native accent when in his presence. According to Jared Harris, son of the famously prickly thespian Richard Harris, in an interview with The Telegraph, the accent was vital. "He stays in character in terms of the accent," said Harris. "The English people on the film were asked not to use their English accents on the set because it might start to pull him off."

Amusingly, Day-Lewis wasn't a complete stickler when it came to modern technology. According to Sally Field, who earned a Best Supporting Actress nomination for her portrayal of Mary Todd Lincoln, Day-Lewis would text her in character as President Lincoln. As she told Backstage, "After I got the role, there were seven months before we began to shoot and he would text me all the time, in character. I would have to then answer back in the language of the time, which was really hard to figure out, but great fun."

For those keeping score, you can text Daniel Day-Lewis when he's deep in a role, but you better know the lingo of the time or my man will leave you hanging.