Daniel Day-Lewis is so selective about the films he appears in, he's only starred in four in the past 10 years. The lack of quantity, however, just means the quality of the films he does choose is that much better. Sure, Christian Bale lost a lot of weight for The Machinist, but that's nothing compared to what Day-Lewis has done to prepare himself for a role.
Take, for example, Day-Lewis' stint in My Left Foot, a movie about Christy Brown, the Irish poet and writer who had cerebral palsy and was confined to a wheelchair. Throughout the months of shooting, Day-Lewis insisted on remaining in the wheelchair (on and off the set) so as to better understand the role. Similarly, he learned Czech on set during the filming of The Unbearable Lightness of Being, and became an apprentice to a butcher to train for Gangs of New York.
His methods have seemed to pay off: Day-Lewis has won an Academy Award, two BAFTA awards and a Golden Globe, in addition to numerous other nominations. In an interview conducted by Jeff Otto of IGN.com, Day-Lewis commented, "When I do work, I feel the same sort of urgency as I ever did. If I didn't feel that, I don't think I would wish to be doing it"
