His relationship with the critics got a big boost with his starring role in the 1985 film My Beautiful Laundrette. The film earned him a National Board of Review Award as well as a New York Film Critics Circle Award, both for Best Supporting Actor. But it wasn't until 1989, when he starred in the Irish drama My Left Foot, that he joined the ranks of the biggest names in Hollywood.
Day-Lewis was the buzz of awards season that year, picking up a British Academy Award, a Golden Globe nomination, a Los Angeles Film Critics Award, and a National Society of Film Critics Award for his performance. But it was the Oscar he won in May of 1990 that set his career in motion. The public tuned in to see if Tom Cruise would win for Born on the Fourth of July or Morgan Freeman for Driving Miss Daisy, only to be captivated by a man they'd never seen before, winning for a movie they'd never even heard of.
His next role would be two full years in coming, but when The Last of the Mohicans finally premiered in 1992, Day-Lewis caught the eye of the female population in a major way. With long, wild locks and a warrior's body, Day-Lewis helped the historical action film to a nearly $72.5 million box office gross. He was again nominated for a British Academy Award, but because of the high commerciality of the film, the American awards shunned him.
Day-Lewis quickly made up for lost time, starring in two major films the following year. Both performances wowed critics and audiences alike and helped further establish him as among the most talented performers in the business. In the Name of the Father featured Day-Lewis as a man whose coerced confession to an IRA bombing lands him in prison for 14 years while his father fights to free him. The true story landed Day-Lewis another Oscar nomination, but he lost to Tom Hanks (Philadelphia).
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