Daniel Day-Lewis: 10 of the Actor's Best Films

Our top Day-Lewis picks

daniel-day-lewis-best-roles — Everett Collection (2); 20th Century Fox Film

Daniel Day-Lewis, a widely celebrated generational talent with a mantle full of Oscars, announced his retirement from acting after 2017's Phantom Thread. The English performer built up an impressive oeuvre over the length of his career. From presidents to punks, here's our ranking of the best Daniel Day-Lewis performances.

10. My Beautiful Laundrette (1985)

An early gem from director Stephen Frears (The Queen, Philomena), this gay interracial love story — costarring Day-Lewis as the fascist street punk tangled up in a clandestine affair with his childhood friend, Omar (Gordon Warnecke) — is both tough and tender. —Leah Greenblatt

9. The Crucible (1996)

THE CRUCIBLE, Daniel Day-Lewis, Joan Allen, 1996, TM and Copyright © 20th Century Fox Film Corp. All — Everett Collection.

While reviews for this '90s Arthur Miller adaptation were mixed at the time, it did have some strong proponents on its side (Entertainment Weekly gave it an "A" grade), and Day-Lewis' turn as John Proctor commanded praise from all corners for its quiet power. —Ray Rahman

8. The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988)

In the film version of Milan Kundera's classic novel, Day-Lewis' womanizing Czech surgeon seduces Sabina (Lena Olin) and Tereza (Juliette Binoche) and makes endless talk of sex and metaphysics sound like something more than art-school pretension (a tough job). —L.G.

7. The Last of the Mohicans (1992)

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS, Daniel Day-Lewis, 1992. ©20th Century-Fox Film Corporation, TM & Copyright — Everett Collection

The Michael Mann epic found Day-Lewis as Hawkeye, a role he famously prepared for with now-trademark intensity. The actor learned how to track and skin animals, built a canoe, and refused to go anywhere without his period-specific gun. The result was a riveting performance. —R.R.

6. The Age of Innocence (1993)

THE AGE OF INNOCENCE, Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer, 1993. (c) Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Ever — Everett Collection

As a repressed New York aristocrat in Martin Scorsese's elegant drama, Day-Lewis internalized all of his method physicality. He made this in between the roughhouse roles of The Last of the Mohicans and In the Name of the Father, but, here, all the exercise and torture occur in the muscles of his face. It's an astonishing quiet performance. —Joe McGovern

5. Gangs of New York (2002)

Gangs of New York (2002) Daniel Day Lewis — Miramax

Martin Scorsese didn't cast Robert De Niro in his long-gestating, turn-of-the-century gangster epic, so he just had Daniel Day-Lewis play De Niro, instead. This was a comeback performance, of sorts, for Day-Lewis (his first performance in five years) and he acted as the clear second-fiddle to Leonardo DiCaprio in the film's narrative. But, damn, if he didn't steal the entire movie (and score an Oscar nomination in the process) for his Bill the Butcher, a monstrous man who never met an America he didn't want to make great again. —Christopher Rosen

4. In the Name of the Father (1993)

IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, Daniel Day-Lewis, Emma Thompson, 1993 — Everett Collection

Day-Lewis was already admired at this point in his career, but the actor's dazzling portrayal of falsely accused IRA fall guy Gerry Conlon helped push him into legend status. Reteaming with My Left Foot director Jim Sheridan, Day-Lewis delivers all the passion, rage, and electricity that the film's weighty and complex subject matter deserves. —R.R.

3. My Left Foot (1989)

At 32 years old, Day-Lewis won his first of three Best Actor Oscars — and essentially set the mark for dedication and craft in his profession by practicing method acting. The stories are folkloric now: As Christy Brown, a man living with cerebral palsy, he spent months in a wheelchair and was spoon-fed by crew members. That would seem a tad extreme until you watch the performance — and marvel at what a funny, witty, mean, and sexy character all that intense preparation allowed Day-Lewis to create. —J.M.

2. Lincoln (2012)

Steven Spielberg's presidential biopic contained easily one of Day-Lewis' most memorable roles. His performance, at once tender and forceful, turned one of America's most mythologized figures into a complete and complicated human being, full of flesh, bone, and emotion. It also earned him his third — third! — Oscar. —R.R.

1. There Will Be Blood (2007)

Say you have a Daniel Day-Lewis movie and I have a Daniel Day-Lewis movie, but mine has Daniel Plainview. Now, watch as Plainview, a uniquely American colossus full of fiery ambition, reaches across the cinema and starts to drink your Daniel Day-Lewis movie. He drinks your Daniel Day-Lewis movie. He drinks it up! (Also, he bowls.) —R.R.

Updated by Joe McGovern

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Christopher Rosen