Editing Daniel Day-Lewis (section)

== Technique and reputation ==
Day-Lewis is considered a [[method acting|method actor]], known for his constant devotion to and research of his roles.<ref name="Tele2013" /><ref name="sojourner"/> Displaying a "mercurial intensity", he would often remain completely in character throughout the shooting schedules of his films, even to the point of adversely affecting his health.<ref name="Simkins">{{cite news|last1=Simkins|first1=Michael|date=22 June 2017|title=Actors usually envy each other. But Daniel Day-Lewis is a class apart|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/22/actors-daniel-day-lewis-retiring|access-date=21 March 2019|quote=Most of us would start any list of those few truly exceptional actors – the shape-shifters as they are sometimes called, individuals who can inhabit another character in its entirety without ever lapsing into impersonation – with [[Marlon Brando]], then veer off into a truculent debate about whether [[Laurence Olivier]] was the greatest of them all or just an old ham with stale tricks. [[Robert De Niro]] would get a mention of course – [[Meryl Streep]], no doubt. But almost everyone would finish with Day-Lewis.|archive-date=22 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190322083314/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/22/actors-daniel-day-lewis-retiring|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Telegraph 2008" /> He is one of the most selective actors in the film industry, having starred in only six films since 1998, with as many as five years between roles.<ref name="frontier">{{cite news|last1=Hirschberg|first1=Lynn|title=The New Frontier's Man|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/11/magazine/11daylewis-t2.html|access-date=28 January 2018|work=[[The New York Times Magazine]]|date=11 November 2007|archive-date=31 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180131052839/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/11/magazine/11daylewis-t2.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Protective of his private life, he rarely grants interviews, and makes very few public appearances.<ref name="Telegraph 2013"/>

Following his third Oscar win in 2013, there was much debate about Day-Lewis's standing among the greatest actors in film history.<ref name="Telegraph Day-Lewis"/><ref name="USA Today"/><ref name="The Guardian Oscars"/><ref>{{cite news|last1=Dargis|first1=Manohla|first2=A.O.|last2=Scott|title=The 25 greatest actors of the 21st century (so far)|work=The New York Times|date=25 November 2020|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/movies/greatest-actors-actresses.html|access-date=7 January 2021|archive-date=1 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201201234221/https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/movies/greatest-actors-actresses.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Joe Queenan of ''[[The Guardian]]'' remarked, "Arguing whether Daniel Day-Lewis is a greater actor than [[Laurence Olivier]], or [[Richard Burton]], or [[Marlon Brando]], is like arguing whether [[Lionel Messi|Messi]] is more talented than [[Pelé]], whether [[Napoleon Bonaparte]] edges out [[Alexander the Great]] as a military genius."<ref name="The Guardian Oscars">{{cite news|title=Oscars 2013: do his three Oscars make Daniel Day-Lewis the greatest?|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/feb/25/oscars-2013-daniel-day-lewis|work=The Guardian|last=Queenan|first=Joe|date=25 February 2013|access-date=27 October 2017|archive-date=3 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180103051601/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/feb/25/oscars-2013-daniel-day-lewis|url-status=live}}</ref> When Day-Lewis himself was asked what it was like to be "the world's greatest actor", he replied, "It's daft isn't it? It changes all the time."<ref name="Allen 2013">{{cite news|title=Oscars 2013: Daniel Day-Lewis says it is 'daft' to call him best actor ever|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/oscars/9892520/Oscars-2013-Daniel-Day-Lewis-says-it-is-daft-to-call-him-best-actor-ever.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/oscars/9892520/Oscars-2013-Daniel-Day-Lewis-says-it-is-daft-to-call-him-best-actor-ever.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|last=Allen|first=Nick|work=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]]|date=25 February 2013|access-date=27 October 2017}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

Widely respected among his peers, in June 2017, Michael Simkins of ''The Guardian'' wrote, "In this glittering cesspit we call the acting profession, there are plenty of rival thesps who, through sheer luck or happenstance, seem to have the career we ourselves could have had if only the cards had fallen differently. But Day-Lewis is, by common consent, even in the most sourly disposed green rooms – a class apart. We shall not look upon his like again – at least for a bit. Performers of his mercurial intensity come along once in a generation."<ref name="Simkins"/>