
Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis was born in London, England, the second child of Cecil Day-Lewis (Poet Laureate of England) and his second wife, Jill Balcon. His maternal grandfather was Sir Michael Balcon, an important figure in the history of British cinema, head of the famous Ealing Studios.Daniel made his film debut in Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971), but then acted on stage with the Bristol Old Vic and Royal Shakespeare Companies and did not appear on screen again until 1982, when he landed his first adult role, a bit part in Gandhi (1982). He also appeared on British TV that year in _Frost in May (1982) (TV) and How Many Miles to Babylon? (1982) (TV). Notable theatrical performances include Another Country (1982-83), Dracula (1984), and The Futurists (1986).
THERE WILL BE BLOOD joins a pantheon of American motion pictures that explore the powerful confluence of ambition, wealth, family and the magnetic lure of the West. Paul Thomas Anderson's fifth film plunges the audience into an astonishingly raw and real turn-of-the-century California and revolves around one unforgettable character: Daniel Plainview, a rough-and-tumble prospector who transforms himself and an entire town through oil. As he ascends from a rugged miner to an imperious tycoon, in the mold of such historical oil pioneers as Edward Doheny and John Rockefeller, Plainview will bring progress and riches to a land that has never known them, at a cost that will blacken his very soul.
Academy Award® winner Daniel Day-Lewis heads a cast that includes Paul Dano (LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE), Ciarán Hinds (ROME, MARGOT AT THE WEDDING), Kevin J. O’Connor (VAN HELSING, THE MUMMY) and newcomer Dillon Freasier.
THERE WILL BE BLOOD is the fifth film from writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson (PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE, MAGNOLIA, BOOGIE NIGHTS, HARD EIGHT.) Anderson’s screenplay is loosely based upon the classic, 1920s muck-raking novel Oil! by Upton Sinclair.Anderson and his frequent collaborators JoAnne Sellar and Daniel Lupi produced THERE WILL BE BLOOD.
The executive producers are Scott Rudin, Eric Schlosser and David Williams. The film features cinematography by long-time Anderson associate and Academy Award® nominee Robert Elswit (GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK); production design by Jack Fisk (THE NEW WORLD, MULHOLLAND DRIVE, THE THIN RED LINE); costume design by Mark Bridges (MAGNOLIA, BOOGIE NIGHTS) who has worked four times previously with Anderson; editing by Dylan Tichenor (THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS) who also edited MAGNOLIA and BOOGIE NIGHTS; and a resonant score from Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood.