What is the best Daniel Day-Lewis performance of all time?

By YPB Team

The patron saint of method acting left behind a small but breathtaking catalog of transformations — from towering American legends to intimate Irish souls. Which is his masterpiece?

Daniel Plainview — There Will Be Blood

Paul Thomas Anderson's 2007 epic featuring Day-Lewis's towering portrayal of a monstrous oil prospector, earning him his second Oscar.

Abraham Lincoln — Lincoln

Steven Spielberg's 2012 film with Day-Lewis delivering an intimate, revelatory portrait of the 16th President navigating the abolition of slavery.

Christy Brown — My Left Foot

The 1989 biographical film about the Irish writer-artist born with cerebral palsy, earning Day-Lewis his first Academy Award.

Bill the Butcher — Gangs of New York

Martin Scorsese's 2002 epic in which Day-Lewis plays the fearsome nativist gang leader who dominates every scene he inhabits.

Hawkeye — The Last of the Mohicans

The 1992 frontier epic in which Day-Lewis plays the rugged marksman with physical intensity and romantic conviction in Michael Mann's acclaimed adventure.

Gerry Conlon — In the Name of the Father

The 1993 drama about an Irishman wrongfully imprisoned for the Guildford pub bombings, with Day-Lewis delivering raw emotional power.

Reynolds Woodcock — Phantom Thread

Day-Lewis's final performance (2017) as a meticulous British fashion designer whose controlled world is upended by an unexpected romance.

Tomas — The Unbearable Lightness of Being

The 1988 Philip Kaufman film in which Day-Lewis plays a Czech surgeon navigating love and politics during the Prague Spring.

Daniel McAleer — The Boxer

A former IRA prisoner who tries to rebuild his life through boxing in Jim Sheridan's 1997 drama, showing Day-Lewis's extraordinary physical commitment.