Daniel Day-Lewis is an English actor. Day-Lewis studied at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. He has won two Academy Awards for Best Actor for portraying Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood and Christy Brown for My Left Foot.

He is known as one of the most selective actors in the film industry, having starred in only four movies in the last ten years. He is a method actor, known for his constant devotion to and research of his roles. Often, he will remain completely in character for the duration of the shooting schedule of his films.

Day-Lewis was born in London, the son of actress Jill Balcon and the Irish Poet Laureate Cecil Day-Lewis. His mother is of Baltic Jewish descent, the daughter of Sir Michael Balcon, who was the former head of Ealing Studios.

Living in Greenwich, Day-Lewis found himself among tough South London kids and being Jewish and "posh", he was often bullied. Very quickly, therefore, he mastered the local accent and mannerisms which he believes to have been the first convincing performances he gave. Later in life, he was known to speak of himself as very much a disorderly character in his younger years, often in trouble for shoplifting and other petty crimes.