Daniel Day-Lewis has done some of the most loved movies. Despite retiring from acting a while back, he is still a renowned name throughout Hollywood. Out of some of his biggest films, Gangs of New York was one movie that remains to be an absolute fan favorite. When it comes to movies or any artistic project, inspiration can strike from anywhere.
Musicians influence other musicians, actors do the same to each other. In quite a lot of cases, cross-inspiration takes place. Sometimes characters can be made with inspiration from other actors; this is very common among writers as well. Day-Lewis also got his inspiration from another musician for a rather major role. However, the unlikely manifestation was with none other than Eminem.
Daniel Day-Lewis is a Big Fan of Eminem
Daniel Day-Lewis‘s method of acting was quite well-known throughout the industry. Before he retired, the way he embodied his characters was a unique concept many admired. When it came to Gangs of New York, the actor sought out another famous personality to channel his inner Bill the Butcher.
“I’ve admired him for a while. I’m always on the lookout for music that might be helpful to a role. It bypasses the intellect in a particular way. With this film, I realized I was listening to Eminem more than usual.”
The actor found Eminem’s music resonating with him almost perfectly and even listened to his song The Way I Am every day at five in the morning. Music had been a big part of Day-Lewis’s career and whether it was any other role, he would always lean towards music to take inspiration. Similarly, for the role of Bill the Butcher, Eminem spoke the most to him. He had always been a fan of the rapper and saw that the most accurate way to act out his character was with the help of his music. The album that stood out the most for him just so happened to be The Marshall Mathers LP.
Also Read: Not Tom Cruise and Will Smith, These 2 Actors Completely Changed Steven Spielberg’s Life
Daniel Day-Lewis Never Broke Character
Many might see this as a drawback while others may be in awe of this but, when it comes to method acting, actors rarely tend to break out of character whenever they are filming. It helps them in better performance and keeps them from any limitations. Many do far too much while others may barely touch the surface. Leonardo DiCaprio had first-hand experience with Daniel Day-Lewis while filming with him.
“It was like two days before we started shooting, and you know, we’d been saying, ‘Hi Daniel,’ ‘Hi Marty,’ ‘Good morning,’ stuff like that. I said, ‘Morning Daniel,’ and he went, [grunts]. I said, ‘Oh s***,’ game on.'”
The actor admitted that he never expected Day-Lewis to get into character so quickly and suddenly that warm-hearted person he was used to conversing with was a distant person and in front of him stood Billy the Butcher. This was something he kept on doing throughout the course of the film’s shooting, making sure he did not break character even once.
Source: Rolling Stones
