Day-Lewis modest at thought of winning Oscar
Oscar nominee Daniel Day-Lewis isn’t confident about his chances of picking up the Best Actor award, he said tonight.
Despite already clinching several prizes in the industry’s most prestigious ceremonies he insisted competition was tough for the Academy awards.
Day Lewis is tipped to take his second Oscar after picking up a Bafta, Golden Globe and Screen Actors’ Guild Award for his lead role in 'There Will Be Blood'.
But the British born actor – who lives in Wicklow, Ireland – dismissed a growing consensus that he was sure to get the top prize in Hollywood next weekend.
“I suppose it’s because it seems to me there are very fine films made this year with wonderful performances in them,” he said.
“It’s a good year.”
George Clooney, Johnny Depp, Tommy Lee Jones and Viggo Mortensen are also nominated for the category.
Day Lewis, a revered method actor, is nominated for his portrayal of ruthless oil baron Daniel Plainview during California’s turn-of-the-century petroleum boom.
Speaking ahead of a gala screening of the film at the Dublin International Film Festival, the fiercely private 50-year-old said he had no immediate plans for the future.
And despite media suggestions of a reclusive life – with wife Rebecca Miller, daughter of playwright Arthur Miller, and their two sons – he insisted he would not be disappearing for years.
“I don’t disappear. You think I disappear. I just go about my business,” he said.
In 1997, he famously turned his back on the film industry and became a shoemaker in Florence until legendary director Martin Scorsese lured him back.
His breakthrough role was in 1985 British drama 'My Beautiful Launderette'.
In 1990 he won the best actor Oscar for his performance as writer Christy Brown in 'My Left Foot'.
Two other Oscar nominations followed – In the Name Of The Father (1994) and Gangs Of New York (2003) – while he was also acclaimed for his performances in The Last of the Mohicans and A Room With a View.
