Daniel Day-Lewis in Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln – Our First Look

Dreamworks have released the first photo of Daniel Day-Lewis as President Abraham Lincoln.

Day-Lewis will be playing the 16th president in Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln. The film is said will be covering the last four months of Lincoln’s life. So I imagine the Union victory in the Civil War and the abolition of slaver will figure prominently in the film. It will most likely recount the incredibly tough decisions Lincoln made and the repercussions he took politically and personally for them. The inevitable conclusion will likely be Lincoln’s assassination on April 15, 1865.

I’ve been interested in this film since I first heard the rumors about it years ago. I was always fascinated with Lincoln. He had such a tortured, sad personal life, was not a popular president at the time. He was faced with one of the most tension-filled periods in American history.

Then after managing to hold the country together during the Civil War, ending slavery and still be hated by half of the country he was killed. No matter how many books I read  or documentaries I see on Lincoln I’m always fascinated by the man.

I was excited about the initial casting of Liam Neeson as Lincoln for the film. I remember reading that Neeson was reading dozens of books about him in preparation for the role. And I thought Spielberg could do justice in telling such an important historical story.

Now seeing Day-Lewis in full Lincoln mode, I’ve gotten even more enthusiastic about the film. He looks great! I’m not sure if there was some prosthetics used to help his natural face look like Lincoln, but based on this photo he looks terrific. He literally looks like the profile on the penny!

Day-Lewis is a fantastic actor and will surely give his all with this performance. Without even seeing a frame of film of him as Honest Abe, I’m guessing he’s going to be a shoo-in for an Oscar nomination. Even if the film is terrible, I’ll predict Day-Lewis will win admiration for his performance. It might not be fair, but I’m already expecting a great performance out of him for this.

I’m really hoping for big things with Lincoln. It most likely will be more historically accurate than that movie where Abe was killing vampires.

Lincoln is set for release November 9, 2012.