80th Academy Awards Oscar Nominations 2008 - Best Actor
Daniel Day-Lewis
Daniel Day-Lewis as Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood
This is Daniel Day-Lewis' fourth nomination in this category.
He won an Oscar for his performance in My Left Foot (1989) and was nominated for In the Name of the Father (1993) and Gangs of New York (2002).
From his earliest roles, Daniel Day-Lewis impressed audiences and critics alike, moving easily
from a punk rocker in MY BEAUTIFUL LAUNDERETTE to a delightfully foppish Victorian
suitor in Merchant-Ivory's A ROOM WITH A VIEW. Together these performances earned him
1986's New York Film Critics Circle Award as Best Supporting Actor, the first of a string of
accolades, including an Academy Award® for Best Actor, three Academy Award® nominations,
two BAFTA awards for Best Actor, four BAFTA nominations and four Golden Globe
nominations. Day-Lewis also won the Screen Actors Guild Award twice, the New York Critics
Award three times and the LA Critics Award.
Though Day-Lewis has continued to turn in one highly-praised performance after another, it was
his role as writer, artist and cerebral palsy sufferer Christy Brown in MY LEFT FOOT for
director Jim Sheridan, which won him an Academy Award® for Best Actor. He received his
second Academy Award® nomination for IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, his second
collaboration with Sheridan - the true story of a man unjustly imprisoned for 15 years - and his
third for his portrayal of Bill, The Butcher in Martin Scorsese’s GANGS OF NEW YORK. His
other wide-ranging roles include the early American adventurer Hawkeye in THE LAST OF
THE MOHICANS, and the aristocratic Newland Archer in his first collaboration with Martin
Scorsese, THE AGE OF INNOCENCE.
Born in London (but now an Irish citizen), Day-Lewis was first introduced to acting when he
was at school in Kent, England. His acting debut was in CRY, THE BELOVED COUNTRY
and his film debut was at the age of 14 in SUNDAY BLOODY SUNDAY, in which he played a
vandal in an uncredited role. He later applied and was accepted to the renowned Bristol Old Vic
Theatre School, which he attended for three years, eventually performing at the Bristol Old Vic
itself. In the 1970s and early 1980s, he worked on stage, appearing with the Bristol Old Vic
Theater Company, the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theater, turning in
notable performances in Another Country, Dracula, Futurists and Hamlet, in which he played
the title role.
Day-Lewis's additional film credits include Philip Kaufman's film version of THE
UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING, in which he won praise for his memorable
performance in the leading role, and the Arthur Miller classic THE CRUCIBLE, in which he
portrayed Puritan John Proctor opposite Winona Ryder, directed by Nicholas Hytner. He joined
up with Jim Sheridan once again for the lead role in THE BOXER, and most recently Day-Lewis
was seen in Rebecca Miller’s powerful and poetic THE BALLAD OF JACK AND ROSE.
80th Academy Awards Oscar Nominations 2008
Best Picture
Best Animated Feature
Best Actor
Best Actress
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