The role of Bill the Butcher was masterfully played by Daniel Day-Lewis in Gangs of New York, but it was not easy to convince the retired actor to return to the movies.
Martin Scorsese’s filmography is full of great works. Taxi Driver, The Irishman, One of Our Own, The Wolf of Wall Street… and, in many of these films, we have one of his favorite actors: Leonardo DiCaprio.
In fact, DiCaprio and Scorsese worked together on The Aviator, a film that destroyed Christopher Nolan’s dreams, back in 2004, as we tell you here.
Perhaps it is not his best film, but it is one of the most brilliant works of the early 2000s. We are talking about Gangs of New York, a film released in 2002, which featured Daniel Day-Lewis, Leonardo DiCaprio, Cameron Díaz o Liam Nesson in the distribution.
What you may not know is that Day-Lewis didn’t want to be in the film to begin with. Not for anything in particular, since he had retired from cinema years before, after acting in The Boxer (1997).
At the moment, Daniel Day-Lewis is retired from the world of cinema (since 2017)but, in his day, Leonardo DiCaprio got the British actor to return to star in Martin Scorsese’s film.
From making shoes to the BAFTA award
In an interview 9 years ago with the Screen Actors Guild, Leonardo DiCaprio recalled his experiences in film, and, specifically, how got Daniel Day-Lewis back on setafter his retirement in 1997, in Gangs of New York.
It was a tortuous task, entrusted to him by himself. Martin Scorsese, movie director, film director. DiCaprio had to travel to New York, meeting with Day-Lewis who was resigned to returning to Hollywood.
Everyone wanted Daniel Day-Lewis to play bill the butcher, protagonist of the film, and one of the most brilliant performances by the London actor. Now the question was how to achieve it.
”We were talking about who was going to play this incredible role of Butcher Bill and a few names came up and someone said, ‘What about Daniel?’ And people immediately said, ‘Well, he’s retired. He is a shoemaker. ‘He is making shoes in Italy.’ “Actually, it was my job to go talk to him.”
Upon arriving, Daniel Day-Lewis suggested they take a walk through Central Park. For ten minutes, no one said a single word.. However, this was the key to starting negotiations with Day Lewis.
”Then we walked in silence for about 10 minutes in Central Park. The moment was incredibly surreal. I thought I would wait until he was ready to talk. Finally, in the middle of Central Park, he finds a bench and says, “This one looks good. Do you want to sit down?” We sat down and started talking about acting.’
The conversation was what Daniel Day-Lewis needed to, after a few years of retirement, commit to participating in Gangs of New York.
Fortunately, Daniel Day-Lewis agreed to Leonardo DiCaprio’s (and Scorsese’s) proposal, reaping one of his best performances. Have you seen Gangs of New York? If not, you can see it at no additional cost on Filmin, and for rental/purchase on Prime Video and Movistar Plus.