Steven Spielberg has revealed he returned to Ireland three years ago in the hope of casting Daniel Day-Lewis in his Abraham Lincoln biopic ‘Lincoln’.
Speaking at the Dublin premiere of his latest feature last night, which preceded a gala dinner hosted by Daniel Day-Lewis in aid of the Wicklow Hospice, the multi award-winning director said it was a “sweet circle” to be back in Ireland, after he travelled to Dublin to try to convince the Oscar-winning actor he was the only man for the role.
In a surprising turn of events, Day-Lewis sensationally turned Spielberg down three times before finally accepting the role of Lincoln. The ‘My Left Foot’ actor, who splits his time between Wicklow and New York, then asked Spielberg for another year to prepare for the role before production started.
Speaking at the red carpeted event last night, which was attended by Spielberg, Day-Lewis and ‘Lincoln’ actress Sally Field, Spielberg said of his return to Ireland: “It’s a great honour for me to be back In Dublin, I believe in symmetry, and there is a great deal of poetic justice in this being the very first and only premiere of ‘Lincoln’ to kick off our international openings.
“Because it was here that I journeyed to Dublin to meet Daniel Day-Lewis with my writer Tony Kushner, and where this entire endeavour began. It began here in Ireland, we had our first meeting here in Dublin, we met for two days, and the rest is about to be history, literally, it’s about history. And now, three years later almost, we find ourselves back in Dublin.”
Daniel Day-Lewis has been nominated for an Oscar for his portrayal of Abraham Lincoln
The multi Oscar-winning director added: “Daniel hardly even had to convince me [to come back for the gala dinner]. He just threw it out there as a possibility and I said: 'Let's just do it.'”
In an event attended by Ireland’s film, TV, music and sport elite, where Jim Sheridan and Neil Jordan rubbed shoulders with Bono and Katie Taylor, the two-time Oscar-winning actress Sally Field also walked the red carpet and said she was “honoured” to be nominated for her third Oscar for her role as Mary Todd in ‘Lincoln’.
Speaking to IFTN, the ‘Norma Rae’ actress said she was “born ready” to play the role of the 16th president of America’s wife, after she had to convince Spielberg she was the right choice for the role.
The veteran actress also revealed she would “love to” work in Ireland some day, following in the footsteps of her director Spielberg, who shot his Oscar-winning film ‘Saving Private Ryan’ in Co Wexford in 1997.
When asked if he would shoot in Ireland again, the renowned director said “I hope so”.
Addressing the 900-strong crowd who watched the film last night, Spielberg said: “This is a movie more about the content than it is about the cinematic magic that people sometimes both reward and accuse me of perpetrating on the film industry! This is really a beautiful, beautiful script by Tony Kushner.”
Day-Lewis, who is also nominated for an Oscar this year for ‘Lincoln’, said he was “really grateful” so many people had turned up in aid of the Wicklow Hospice: “I wasn’t sure, we’ve been doing benefits for a while for other things, with the same incredible group of people that put this together, and they felt that with the economic situation at the moment, that this kind of event is not possible. So we just explored it a little bit, and it turns out that we can still do it.”
‘Lincoln’ is released in Irish cinemas on January 25.
Listen to Steven Spielberg address the attendees of the Dublin premiere at the Savoy Cinema in Dublin on January 20 below:
