Steven Spielberg Once Broke Down in Tears on Set, and Was Comforted by Daniel Day-Lewis, Dressed as Abraham Lincoln
Steven Spielberg Once Broke Down in Tears on Set, and Was Comforted by Daniel Day-Lewis, Dressed as Abraham Lincoln
Virginia ChamleeFri, March 27, 2026 at 4:24 PM UTC
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Steven Spielberg; Daniel Day-Lewis as President Abraham Lincoln in a scene from "Lincoln".Credit: Karwai Tang/WireImage -
Steven Spielberg is recounting an emotional scene in his 2012 film Lincoln, and how star Daniel Day-Lewis comforted him after
In a conversation at South by Southwest, the director said the scene involved Abraham Lincoln urging his cabinet to pass the 13th Amendment, which would formally abolish slavery in the U.S.
"To this day, talking to you about that, I have never gotten over that scene or how he played Lincoln," Spielberg said of the actor
Steven Spielberg says he was once comforted on set by Daniel Day-Lewis, who at the time was dressed as the titular character while the two were filming Lincoln.
During a discussion at South by Southwest with Sean Fennessey of The Big Picture podcast, the 79-year-old director said watching Day-Lewis, 68, act in one scene in particular "humbled" him as a director.
"Daniel Day-Lewis, when he's trying to explain to his cabinet the urgency of passing the 13th Amendment into Constitutional law — it was two shots," Spielberg recounted. "Both shots are moving. One shot starts at the end of the table, and is slowly moving — it's a four-minute speech — and then, with one cutaway to David Straitharn [who played Secretary of State William Seward in the film], the camera then goes into a close-up mode and finishes on his close-up."
Steven Spielberg and Daniel Day-Lewis participate in a live conversation to packed houses following a special screening of Steven Spielberg's "Lincolin" in cities across the country at AMC Loews Lincoln Square 13 on October 10, 2012 in New York City.Credit: Bryan Bedder/Getty
Spielberg continued: "To this day, talking to you about that, I have never gotten over that scene or how he played Lincoln."
The scene was so emotional, the director said, that he had to leave the room after it was filmed.
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"At the end of that scene, at the end of that first take, I had to leave the set. Daniel was worried because, as Lincoln, he looked around and the director wasn't on the set. And he asked, he calls me Skipper... he said, 'Where's the Skipper?' And I was in the other room crying," Spielberg recounted.
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He continued: "Mr. Lincoln walked into the room, saw me, sat down next to me, and put his arms around me. That was a moment I will never forget."
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Day-Lewis has kept a low profile since announcing his retirement from acting back in 2017, but has been spotted a handful of times out and about over the years and also starred in the 2025 film Anemone, directed by his son, Ronan.
Speaking in an interview with Entertainment Weekly in 2025, Ronan opened up about how he was able to collect words of wisdom from Spielberg ahead of his feature directorial debut..
"This is pretty crazy, but I got to talk a bit with Steven Spielberg, who's a family friend," he said of the filmmaker. "He checked in a couple of times, and he was really, really supportive, and we talked through things. He was asking like, 'What lenses are you using?' and stuff like that."
Ronan, 28, added, "It was pretty amazing to check in like that after a week of shooting. Obviously, he is a hero to me."
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