Time magazine thinks so. They’ve just declared the British actor as the best there is currently on planet Earth. He’s a great actor,
no doubt, and one who’s done a lot of amazing work, showing an incredible
range that few have ever had. Hard to believe that the same actor who played so
foppishly foolish in A ROOM WITH A VIEW could play so utterly terrifying in
GANGS OF NEW YORK. Still, what’s even a more amazing accomplishment is that
Day-Lewis has built such a reputation with a fairly small body of work, less
than twenty films over 30 years. And in the last twenty years, he’s made only ten.
But they’re pretty damn good, most of them. Here are his
last ten:
THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS (1992)
THE AGE OF INNOCENCE (1993)
IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER (1993)
THE CRUCIBLE (1996)
THE BOXER (1997)
GANGS OF NEW YORK (2002)
THE BALLAD OF JACK AND ROSE (2005)
THERE WILL BE BLOOD (2007)
NINE (2010)
LINCOLN (2012)
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Daniel Day-Lewis in his upcoming role as our 16th President in LINCOLN |
Critic and awards historian Tom O’Neil of Gold Derby online
thinks that Day-Lewis is a lock to win Best Actor for his turn as the 16th
President. (http://bit.ly/TNn52d)
If that happens, Day-Lewis will become the only actor in the history of
the Academy Awards to win three Best Actor Oscars. Jack Nicholson has three
Oscars but two are for lead (ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST, AS GOOD AS IT
GETS) and the third is for his supporting turn in TERMS OF ENDEARMENT. Walter
Brennan has three supporting Oscars from the 1930’s, but those wins are due
largely to the fact that the former stuntman earned the votes of a lot of crew
members who were tickled to see him become a star.
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Philip Seymour Hoffman in THE MASTER. |
But back to Day-Lewis and the mantle of greatness. Is he
really the best? Better than say, Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington, Viggo
Mortenson, Philip Seymour Hoffman, or Guy Pearce? Is it even fair to judge
something so subjective? Or for that matter, why is the greatness confined to
film acting? Is that fair? What about theater? TV? How about actors who do all
three with equal aplomb? Sir Ian McKellen, anyone?
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Sir Ian McKellen in THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy. |
The truth is that Day-Lewis is great but Time magazine
didn’t really cast their net all that wide. I think they’re going largely on
Day-Lewis’ buzz worthy portrayal of LINCOLN, already getting the most Oscar chatter of any acting this year, even though the movie hasn’t opened nationwide yet and
has only been screened by some critics. But still, even without all that
talk about that performance, Day-Lewis would be up there. He
completely immerses himself in his craft and gives thorough performances every
time.
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Tom Wilkinson in THE GHOST WRITER. |
But if you’re going to have a discussion about the best
actors, shouldn’t that list include a lot of character actors? (Arguably,
Day-Lewis is a character actor,
albeit in lead roles.) If I pooled a list of the greatest actors working today
it would be heavy with the likes of character actors like Tom Wilkinson, Alfred
Molina, Gary Oldman and Geoffrey Rush. A strong case could be made for Wilkinson
as the greatest. He can do leads (IN THE BEDROOM), supporting turns (MICHAEL
CLAYTON), dramas (VALKYRIE), comedies (THE FULL MONTY), thrillers (ROCKnROLLA),
and even one-scene roles that devastate (THE GHOST WRITER). I ask you, who else
could play both Ben Franklin (JOHN ADAMS) and James Baker (RECOUNT) in the same
calendar year? Who else can do accents and be just as memorable using his native
English one?
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John Lithgow in season 4 of DEXTER on Showtime. |
True, Daniel Day-Lewis can do ruthless men, like he did in
THERE WILL BE BLOOD, but he was pretty tepid as the lead in the musical NINE. John
Lithgow has done ruthless (DEXTER) and musicals (DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS) and
ruthless musicals (SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS). Shouldn’t he be up there? Of course
he’s not a big movie star so he doesn’t get the cover of Time magazine.
Look, no matter who’s judging, Daniel Day-Lewis is an
inspired choice. (And I am a big fan.) And any time something like Time’s
declaration gets the nation talking about excellence in the arts, well, that’s
terrific. Still, if we’re talking about the greatest actor working today, there
is one actor who outshines Day-Lewis. That actor?
Meryl Streep.