Want to know the best Daniel Day-Lewis movies? How about the worst Daniel Day-Lewis movies? Curious about Daniel Day-Lewis’ box office grosses or curious which Daniel Day-Lewis movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations and Oscar® wins? Need to know which Daniel Day-Lewis movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences? Well you have come to the right place….because we have ranked all of his movies Best to Worst in 4 different categories.
Daniel Day-Lewis (1957-) seems to be the polar opposite of Adam Sandler. Sandler’s movies are generally hated by critics but pull in the masses when they open in theaters. Meanwhile Day-Lewis’ movies are loved…and I mean a deep love….by critics and by Oscar voters®….. but generally fail to put much of a dent at the box office. If you could merge Sandler’s box office with Day-Lewis critical approval you would have the greatest movie star ever. Coming to theaters near you Daniel Day-Sandler in Gangs of Waterboys.
Daniel Day-Lewis is the only actor to ever win 3 Best Actor Oscars®. Even more amazing than his record breaking Oscar® glory is the fact that he has only acted in 16 theatrical movies since 1982. His IMDb page shows 28 acting credits since 1971. After taking away his television appearances and straight to DVD movies we are left with 16 movies to rank. In the table below, Ultimate Movie Rankings ranks those 16 movies in 6 different sortable columns.
Daniel Day-Lewis Movies Ranked In Chronological Order With Ultimate Movie Rankings Score (1 to 5 UMR Tickets) *Best combo of box office, reviews and awards.
Daniel Day-Lewis Movies Can Be Ranked 6 Ways In This Table
The really cool thing about this table is that it is “user-sortable”. Rank the movies anyway you want.
- Sort Daniel Day-Lewis movies by his co-stars of the movie
- Sort Daniel Day-Lewis movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost
- Sort Daniel Day-Lewis movies by yearly domestic box office rank
- Sort Daniel Day-Lewis movies how they were received by critics and audiences. 60% rating or higher should indicate a good movie.
- Sort by how many Oscar® nominations and how many Oscar® wins each Daniel Day-Lewis movie received.
- Sort Daniel Day-Lewis movies by Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score. UMR Score puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.
Possibly interesting things about Daniel Day-Lewis
1. Daniel Day-Lewis was born in London, England on April 29, 1957.
2. Daniel Day-Lewis’s track to stardom. Day-Lewis studied acting at the Bristol Old Vic School. He got his first screen appearance in 1971’s Sunday Bloody Sunday. Eleven years later he appeared in a brief scene in Gandhi. From there he got a supporting role in 1984’s The Bounty. His role in The Bounty lead to critical received acting roles in two 1986 movies…My Beautiful Laundrette and A Room With A View. Since then it has been one award winning performance after another.
3. Daniel Day-Lewis has married one time…to Rebecca Miller (1996-). They got married in 1996 and have two children. That made writer Arthur Miller his father-in-law.
4. Daniel Day-Lewis has been nominated for 5 Best Actor Oscars®. He won for 1989’s My Left Foot, 2007’s There Will Be Blood, and 2012’s Lincoln. His other two nominations were for 1993’s In The Name Of The Father and 2002’s Gangs of New York.
5. Daniel Day-Lewis is tied with Walter Brennan, Jack Nicholson, Ingrid Bergman, Meryl Streep for 2nd place with 3 acting Oscars®. Katharine Hepburn is the leader with 4 acting Oscars®.
6. Daniel Day-Lewis is a legend when it comes to how he prepares for a role.
- Killed all his own food for Last Of The Mohicans
- Learned an entirely new language for The Unbearable Lightness Of Being
- Broke his own ribs for My Left Foot
- Lived as an 1870s gentleman for The Age of Innocence
- Went to prison for In The Name Of The Father
- Didn’t wash for The Crucible
- Became a professional-standard boxer for The Boxer
- Left his wife for The Ballad Of Jack And Rose
- For more detailed information on these points check out this link.
7. Some quotes: “He is widely acclaimed for his meticulous acting, which he worked on like a mad scientist who works on an invention” and “His total attention to externals, makeup, hair, clothing, manner of walking, gesturing and speech are mind boggling”. Sound like these quotes would accurately describe Daniel Day-Lewis….but they are actually quotes about Oscar® winning actor Paul Muni. Muni was a movie star in the 1930s and 1940s who was probably the first method actor. Seems that Day-Lewis is following in the footsteps of Muni when it comes preparing for a movie role.
8. Roles Daniel Day-Lewis turned down or was seriously considered for: Batman Begins (Christian Bale part), The English Patient (Ralph Fiennes part), Interview With A Vampire (Tom Cruise part), Philadelphia (Tom Hanks part), Sleepy Hollow (Johnny Depp part), Pulp Fiction (John Travolta part) and Lord of the Rings trilogy (Viggo Mortensen part).
9. Is one of 8 actors to have won the Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Critics’ Choice Award, Golden Globe Award and SAG Award for the same performance.
10. Currently Daniel Day-Lewis does not have a new movie listed on IMDb.
Academy Award® and Oscar® are the registered trademarks of the Academy of Motion Arts and Sciences. Golden Globes® are the registered trademark and service mark of the Hollywood Foreign Press.
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*D. Day-(& fellow Irishmen) is arguably our finest “Living” actor, along w/*Hopkins & *Penn. & achieved something even *”The Great: Spencer Tracy” (l900-67) did not, winning all (3) leading *Oscars-(l989, 2007 & 2012) The only other performer(s0 in the (3) or more league are: *K. Hepburn (4), *I. Bergman (3), *Nicholson (3)*Streep (3) & *Walter brennan (3)
1 At the turn of the century a group of the then leading directors published a list of those male stars whom they considered the greatest actors of the 20th Century. Here is a reproduction which illustrates a few gaps in my memory
(1)Charles Chaplin
(2) Marlon Brando
(3)Robert DeNiro
(4) —
(5) Laurence Olivier
(6) Spencer Tracy
(7)Jean Gabin
(8)—
(9) Jack Nicholson
(10) Daniel Day Lewis.
No corresponding list was published for females.
2 IMDB has now published a list of what it calls the “definitive” 100 greatest actors of all time.
That list may NOW be inspected in its entirety over at IMDB but below I have segregated the top 12 for easy comparison with the list above:
(1) Jack Nicholson
(2) Marlon Brando
(3) Robert DeNiro
(4) Al Pacino
(5) Day-Lewis
(6) Dustin Hoffman
(7) Tom Hanks
(8) Sir Anthony Hopkins
(9) Paul Newman
(10) Denzel Washington
(11) Spencer Tracy
(12) Sir Laurence Olivier
It will be noted that as their roles have increased Nicholson and Day-Lewis have move up since the turn of the century.
3 IMDB has also done a ‘definitive’ 50 Greatest Actress list which can also be full scrutinised at will but here is a quick summary of the Top 5
(1)Meryl Streep
(2)Katharine Hepburn
(3)Ingrid Bergman
(4)Bette Davis
(5) Olivia DeHavilland
Greer Garson of whom many of us have recently been writing is 8th and the Beloved Jane of Flora Breen Robison is a high 12th
4 A glance at Day-Lewis’ chronological filmography on IMDB for example will illustrate that he took regular sabbaticals from acting. A journalist reported stopping in a tiny Irish village one summer and going into a shoemakers for foot repairs. Daniel was working away there repairing shoes and apparently the shop was owned by a relative of his and Daniel used to find it therapeutic to work in the shop during breaks from filming. Apparently an exceedingly down-to-earth person for one who had reached the highest levels of the acting profession.
BOB
Hey Bob….thanks for sharing these lists…..and we forgive you for forgetting 2 of the Top 10 actors. On the first list list it seems to have a international flavor. I think Robert DeNiro from 1973 to 1982 deserves to be that high….his massive out since 1982 has way more bombs than Good Fellas. On the second list….not enough classic performers….seems some young pups put that one together. I think the Actress IMDb list is better….glad to see Olivia de Havilland in the Top 5….she is normally a forgotten thespian. Very cool story about DDL…..that would be mind blowing seeing him fixing your shoe. Heck I would probably be breaking WoC’s shoes….just so I could take them to the shop….lol.
1 Your’re as bad as my father Bruce. He was walking past a garden in London once and spotted a little known British B movie actor called George Colouris tending the garden and my brother who was with dad was highly embarrassed as he couldn’t get dad away and dad kept calling Colouris “Sir”
2 My brother later said to me that he would have hated to witness dad’s grovelling if someone of the status of the Duke or Randolph Scott had been in that garden.
3 Talking of Randolph Scott I love your expression “some young pups.” !!!
BOB
Hey Bob.
1. Funny story about dad and brother. I think I have done well when I have had a chance to meet a celebrity…..but I will still find some work for DDL…..lol.
2. Too bad he never ran across Wayne or Scott.
3. Now that I am closing on 50….. I see young pups everywhere…lol.
Hey Spencer….I have always thought he was the Paul Muni of our generation. You are 100% correct…..no actor….has ever done what he has done…..3 Best Actor Oscars….I would not be surprised if he ties the Great Kate with 4 Best Actor Oscars by the time he is done. Thanks for sharing these interesting Oscar facts….and for taking the time to comment.
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Very cool page….Unfortunately I have only seen one of Mr. Lewis’ movies….Gangs of New York…I tried to get through There Will Be Blood but it didn’t happen. I am probably the minority but I do not think he is all that and a bag of potato chips. Maybe seeing the rest of his films will change my mind. Look forward to more new pages!!!
Thanks for the visit Bryan. I agree with you about There Will Be Blood….that was a hard movie to get through. I would suggest Lincoln and The Bounty as ones to check out. I appreciate you stopping by.
Daniel Day Lewis is a totally complete actor. He immerses himself in every role he plays. When you watch Lincoln, you really believe he is Abraham Lincoln. I don’t think he’ll ever be a massive box office star and I don’t think he really wants to go down that road. The best of his work will stand the test of time, while many present day box office stars will be forgotten.
Ps. Any chance of doing a page on Edward G. Robinson?
Hey Chris….I think you are 100% correct about him not being interested in block buster movies. I am real curious what his next role will be….he is almost 60….does he have 1 or 2 great performances left? Of all the great actors that have played Lincoln his was easily the best…I think that one will stand the test of time. Edward G. Robinson?….one of my goals is to do all the actors on the Top 50 stars of all-time…Mr. Robinson is on that list. (http://www.afi.com/100years/stars.aspx) So he will get a page eventually…..my request book has filled up over the last few weeks. Currently researching John Garfield….he made one movie with Robinson….The Sea Wolf….so my next page will have at least 1 Robinson movie on it.