Daniel Day-Lewis Initially Reluctant to Play Lincoln in Spielberg’s Biopic

It took years, according to director Steven Spielberg, to convince Oscar-winner Daniel Day-Lewis to take the role of arguably the most important president in American history. Ironically mirroring his character’s humility and self-awareness, Oscar-winner Daniel Day-Lewis was initially “reluctant to play Abraham Lincoln,” he admits to Collider in an interview with Spielberg. “Steven put the idea in front of me and it was not that I didn't take it seriously, from the word go, but it seemed inconceivable to me that I could be the person to help him do this thing that he wished to do….“Least of all did I want to be responsible for irrevocably staining the reputation of the greatest President this country's ever known. It was not just in a self-serving way, but quite literally it seemed to me a very difficult thing to try to tell this story in such a way that it could live. I just really felt that I wasn't the person to do that."Spielberg was not only confident in Day-Lewis for the part, but admitted he would not have made the film without him. The film deals with the Lincoln’s struggle to abolish slavery and the resulting American Civil War, during which the southern states seceded to protect their economic interests. The incredible cast includes Sally Fields as Mary Todd Lincoln, Tommy Lee Jones, David Strathairn, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. The screenplay was written by acclaimed playwright Tony Kushner. “Lincoln” opens on November 16 in the U.S. and in late January in the U.K.