![\"Daniel](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Daniel-Day-Lewis-Lincoln-2012-Far-Out-Magazine-1140x855.jpg\")
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(Credits: Far Out \/ Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures \/ 20th Century Fox)<\/p>\n
Daniel Day-Lewis\u2019<\/a> name has always been synonymous with method acting, for better or worse. No one can argue with the results of his borderline insane commitment to inhabiting the skin of his characters in every way possible, as his \u2018method\u2019 has led to three Academy Award wins and three further nominations, and he\u2019s widely cited as one of the greatest actors in history. However, his method has also been accused of being self-indulgent and pointless, and it\u2019s also made him an easy target for ridicule at times.<\/p>\n For instance, when he played a pugilist in The Boxer, was it really necessary for him to push himself so hard in training that he broke his nose and did lasting damage to his back? When he played a man with cerebral palsy in My Left Foot, did he truly need to be fed and pushed around in his wheelchair by the crew between takes? For The Last of the Mohicans, was it entirely necessary to learn how to build his own canoe or trap and skin animals?<\/p>\n Fans of Day-Lewis would argue that, if this dedication to living as his characters as much as humanly possible is what he needs to extract yet another incredible performance, then he should be left to it. Who are we mere mortals to question the method of the man so steadfast and resolute that he tapped his own eyeball with the point of a knife blade in Gangs of New York? Side note: that eyeball was covered in prosthetic glass, but it still sent a shiver up most people\u2019s spines. <\/p>\n However, even the most staunch Day-Lewis defender would have a tough time going to bat for something he insisted upon when playing the iconic American President Abraham Lincoln<\/a> in Steven Spielberg\u2019s 2012 biopic. <\/p>\n One of the things that made Day-Lewis perfect for the role was his tall, slim frame: at six feet two inches, he was fairly close in stature to Lincoln, who stood a towering six feet four inches. This was an anomaly in the 19th century, when the average height of a man was around five feet seven inches, and it meant Lincoln regularly towered over most men he encountered.<\/p>\n