New ‘Lincoln’ Set Photo: Daniel Day-Lewis for President

Today we have the latest straight from the Richmond, Virginia set of Lincoln, the latest film from Steven Spielberg – specifically, a new set photo of Daniel Day-Lewis in full Abraham Lincoln regalia.

Lincoln is based on Doris Kearns-Goodwin’s best-selling “Team of Rivals”, which focused mostly on the ideological debates between the sixteenth president and the influential men of his inner circle, as they navigated the difficult and treacherous road towards both the abolition of slavery and the end of the Civil War.

As you can see from the photo, Day-Lewis bears a striking resemblance to the former president, which says a lot for the makeup department on the film. We see Day-Lewis walking with director Steven Spielberg, (War Horse, The Adventures of Tintin) and a young actor dressed in the blue of a Union Soldier.  The average age of soldiers in the Civil War dropped precipitously the longer the War dragged on, so this could be a scene from the latter part of the film. Also, Lincoln was incredibly tall (reports have him standing at nearly 6 feet 4 inches, unusual for the time period, so the fact that he towers over the other actor would also be accurate).

Spielberg has been busy as of late, but has mentioned for years that Lincoln is his passion project and he has been working towards a Lincoln biopic for years now.  A who’s who of solid character actors round out the cast:  Sally Field plays Mary-Todd Lincoln, while Jared Harris (Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows), Tommy Lee Jones, Joseph Gordon-Levitt (The Dark Knight Rises), Hal Holbrook, James Spader, John Hawkes, Tim Blake Nelson, David Strathairn, Walton Goggins, Lee Pace, Jackie Earle Haley, and David Oyelowo co-star.

Lincoln hits theaters in December 2012.

Source: Richmond-Time Dispatch via Coming Soon