Some of you may know this, some may not, but Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln was a film that was over 10 years in the making for the director. Typically the cycles of his films don’t extend as long as Lincoln did but this film was more of a labor of love for the director and he was adamant about the participation of one Daniel Day-Lewis in the title role as beloved United States President Abraham Lincoln, with the actor repeatedly refusing to take the role. Now most actors in Hollywood will admit that they won’t even bother reading a script to participate in a movie directed by Steven Spielberg, so if the most esteemed director in the world seeks you out specifically to play the U.S.’s most beloved president, how would one respond? Simple, you start off explaining with “It’s not you, it’s me…”
Dear Steven,
It was a real pleasure just so sit and talk with you. I listened very carefully to what you had to say about this compelling history, and I’ve since read the script and found it in all the detail in which it describe these monumental events and in the compassionate portraits of all the principal characters, both powerful and moving. I can’t account for how at any given moment I feel the need to explore life as opposed to another, but I do know that I can only do this work if I feel almost as if there is no choice; that a subject coincides inexplicably with a very personal need and a very specific moment in time. In this case, as fascinated as I was by Abe, it was the fascination of a grateful spectator who longed to see a story told, rather than that of a participant. That’s how I feel now in spite of myself, and though I can’t be sure that this won’t change, I couldn’t dream of encouraging you to keep it open on a mere possibility. I do hope this makes sense Steven, I’m glad you’re making the film, I wish you the strength for it, and I send both my very best wishes and my sincere gratitude to you for having considered to me.
This is no joke, this is real. Spielberg revealed the letter while presenting the best actor award to Day-Lewis for his role in Lincoln at the New York Film Critics Circle awards. These days I feel like there’s not much in Hollywood that can really surprise me as almost everything is formulaic and follows a pattern. What Day-Lewis did here is like seeing that proverbial pig fly. In the end Spielberg, after numerous script revisions, got the actor he wanted and we got the film we all hoped it would be.
The lesson to be learned? Nobody turns down S. Spilzzle. NOBODY.
Via: THR
