Best known for his method approach to acting, although he received traditional training from the Bristol Old Vic theatre, Sir Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis is an English actor. Coming from Jewish, Northern Irish and English descent, Day-Lewis made his acting debut in an uncredited role in the 1971 drama, Sunday Bloody Sunday. But it would be more than a decade, at various film schools and theatres, before he made his debut as an adult with a bit part in director Richard Attenborough's biopic, Gandhi in 1982. Around the same time, Day-Lewis also acted in British TV shows and movies like Frost in May (1982), My Brother Jonathan (1985), The Bounty (1984), My Beautiful Laundrette (1985), A Room with a View (1985) and Nanou (1986).

In 1988 Day-Lewis played the lead role in director Philip Kaufman's The Unbearable Lightness of Being, which was nominated for a couple of Oscars. The following year Day-Lewis earned his first Academy Award in the Best Actor category for Jim Sheridan's My Left Foot, based on the extraordinary life of Irish painter Christy Brown. After being on a hiatus of three years, Day-Lewis returned to the big screen in Michael Mann's epic action-drama, The Last of the Mohicans (1992). In 1993 he acted in ace director Michael Scorsese's period drama, The Age of Innocence. Day-Lewis was nominated in the Best Actor category at the Academy Awards again in 1994 for Jim Sheridan's biographical drama, In the Name of the Father. He continued with movies like The Crucible (1996) and The Boxer (1997).

After a five year break, Day-Lewis returned to star in another Scorsese movie, Gangs of New York. The movie was nominated for 10 Oscars, including a Best Actor nomination for Day-Lewis' character, Bill 'The Butcher' Cutting from the movie. He later went on to play the lead role in his wife, Rebecca Miller's drama, The Ballad of Jack and Rose (2005). In 2007 Day-Lewis played Daniel Plainview in Paul Thomas Anderson's 2007 drama, There Will Be Blood. Day-Lewis' character was described as one of the most ruthless characters ever in film history, he went on to win his second Academy Award for Best Actor. In 2012 Steven Spielberg directed Day-Lewis in the biopic, Lincoln. The movie won Day-Lewis his third Academy Award for Best Actor. Paul Thomas Anderson and Day-Lewis teamed up again for the period drama, Phantom Thread (2018). The movie, a critics favorite, has already generated a buzz at the Academy Awards 2018, with Day-Lewis earning a nomination in the Best Actor category. Day-Lewis had said that he will be retiring from acting after the Phantom Thread. Apart from three Oscars, Day-Lewis has also won two Golden Globes and four BAFTA Awards.