Top 5 Daniel Day-Lewis Performances We COULD Have Gotten
3.) Vincent Vega in “Pulp Fiction”
What’s interesting about this is that this is one case where Daniel Day-Lewis was pursuing the role and not the other way around. In the 90s he was very much in demand. The kind of actor that most filmmakers would be elated to learn he was interested in acting in your film. However, Daniel Day-Lewis didn’t count on one thing… Quentin Tarantino. He has VERY specific ideas on the casting and will pass on big stars the studios want. Now I can’t say that I disagree as he’s rarely ever wrong with his casting choices. I also can’t really imagine anyone else in that role beside John Travolta (even though it was originally written for Michael Madsen). This entry is really more because I would love to see someone like Lewis and Tarantino team up on something. His intensity of acting paired with Tarantino’s writing and directing would just be a match made in bloody, f#@*ing heaven.
2.) Batman in “Batman Forever”/“Batman Begins”
Daniel Day-Lewis was considered for the Cape Crusader… twice! It is said when Michael Keaton left the role and Joel Schumacher had to cast a new actor for Bruce Wayne, one of the actors on his list was Daniel Day-Lewis. It’s also said Ralph Fiennes and Billy Baldwin were on that list before Val Kilmer’s performance in “Tombstone” sealed the deal. Needless to say while those are interesting ideas for casting they don’t seem quite right. Also, needless to say is that this doesn’t seem like the kind of role Day-Lewis would be into.
That didn’t stop them years later again trying to get him in “Batman Begins” although he seems like an odd choice at that time when they were trying to reboot the series with his early days as Batman. I remember after Heath Ledger died there were fans throwing out his name as a replacement for the Joker. It never would have happened. However, I was happy to see the idea that the role of the Joker should die with Heath Ledger go away. I’m not saying I wouldn’t want it to happen as I’m sure he could really bring a lot of depth to the role or make a great Batman villain, but he doesn’t seem the least bit interested in these kinds of films.
1.) Aragorn in “The Lord of the Rings” Trilogy
Out of all of the entries this is the one I can most clearly imagine Daniel Day-Lewis in. Especially if you’ve seen “The Last of the Mohicans.” Also I feel like this is something more likely than Batman, not by much but still. The words of Tolkien do have a weight and power to them. I can only imagine if he HAD played this role it may have killed him to have been in character for at least 3 years of production. That’s what I would have to guess was his deciding reason to not play Aragorn. He’s stated in interviews that his wife has had to endure some pretty crazy characters coming home each night while he works on different movies (I feel so bad for her during “Gangs of New York”). Now Viggo Mortensen got fairly deep into his role as well. To the point that he kept Aragorn’s sword with him at all times even on his days off. I think it’s fair to say he probably would have been fluent in elvish and slept in the wild all during production. However, with all these entrees I don’t think any of these were bad performances by the actual actors. Although I would love to see what Daniel Day-Lewis could have done with them.
