Danie Day-Lewis Won The Best Actor Oscar

Day-Lewis, who won the best actor Oscar Sunday for playing a tyrannical oil prospector in "There Will Be Blood," is renowned for the selectiveness and intense research with which approaches each of his roles.The 50-year-old actor has made only eight films in the nearly 20 years since he gained international stardom for his astonishing Oscar-winning performance as a man born with cerebral palsy in "My Left Foot."Without exception, however, Day-Lewis has immersed himself in each of his film roles to a degree that has become legendary.

Often during films Day-Lewis chooses to remain in character off-set, living and breathing the part of his on-screen persona 24 hours a day.For 1989's "My Left Foot" he insisted on staying in his character's wheelchair during the shoot to the consternation of crew members forced to carry him above or around camera cables and lighting.In 1992's historical epic "Last of the Mohicans", Day-Lewis buffed up and learnt to live off the land as his character had done.For Martin Scorsese's period drama "The Age of Innocence," Day-Lewis reportedly donned 1870s garb and spent several weeks wandering around New York to get into character.

Day-Lewis returned with a vengeance in 2002, teaming with Scorsese once again to play the murderous Bill 'The Butcher' Cutting in "Gangs of New York," a role that earned him his third Oscar nomination.A further appearance in the drama "The Ballad of Jack and Rose" in which he was directed by his wife, came in 2005, before Day-Lewis re-emerged to link with director Paul Thomas Anderson in "There Will Be Blood."