He was the first of three consecutive British actors to win the Oscar for Best Actor in a leading role, Jeremy Irons being next and Anthony Hopkins the third. Each of them coincidentally won at their first nomination in the Academy Awards.
Always quiet and introverted, he said that he was not popular in school and was mocked as an outsider while growing up in England, partially because he was of half-Jewish/half-Irish stock. The upside was that, instead of socializing, he developed a rich fantasy life that later helped him to delve so deeply into his characters.
He was Jonathan Demme's first choice for the part of Andrew Beckett in Philadelphia (1993). He turned the part down to work on In the Name of the Father (1993) and Tom Hanks was cast in "Philadelphia" instead. He earned an Oscar nomination for best actor in "In the Name of the Father: but Hanks won the best actor Oscar for "Philadelphia", the part Day-Lewis turned down.
Not only does he and Michelle Pfeiffer share a birthday, but they were married on the same day, albeit three years apart.
He listened to Eminem to get into an angry, self-righteous frame of mind as Bill the Butcher while shooting Gangs of New York (2002).
Is a skilled woodworker in addition to being able to make his living as a cobbler.
Chosen by People magazine as one of the "50 Most Beautiful" people in the world [2003].
Has three sons: Gabriel-Kane Adjani (b. 9 April 1995), Ronan Cal Day-Lewis (b. 14 June 1998), and Cashel Blake Day-Lewis (b. May 2002).
Announced that Day-Lewis will star in "Rose and the Snake," co-written and to be directed by his wife, Rebecca Miller. (25 February 2003)
According to Gangs of New York (2002) co-star John C. Reilly, Day-Lewis got sick during shooting in Italy, refusing to trade his character's threadbare coat for a warmer coat because the warmer coat did not exist in the 19th century; doctors finally forced him to take antibiotics.
