In Honor of the Oscars - My Daniel Day-Lewis Story

Actor Daniel Day-Lewis is nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor to be awarded this Sunday.  Day-Lewis is considered to be a lock for winning the award this year.  Even fellow nominee George Clooney is convinced Day-Lewis will be the winner.

Daniel Day-Lewis previously won the Best Actor Oscar® in 1989 for the film My Left Foot.  That year I worked at Geffen Records (when it existed as an actual label rather than the more imprimatur it is now) which was on Sunset Boulevard on the block west from Doheny.  If you're familiar with Los Angeles, you might recognize that as a relatively upscale hood at the gateway to the mansions of Beverly Hills.

On the day after the Oscars in 1989 I was walking down Sunset Blvd. between buildings.  A gentleman was jogging towards me and I felt a strange sense of familiarity.  As we moved closer together I felt a sense of recognition dawn on me as my jaw started dropping.  It was Daniel Day-Lewis on a morning run from his fancy hotel the day after winning the award.  As he brushed past me and I nearly dropped the files in my hand, he clearly noticed my reaction and broke out in a big grin, said "good morning" and continued running off into the down Sunset (Blvd. that is)!

I haven't seen There Will Be Blood yet.  I'm continuing my tradition of managing to see one or two of the nominated films (this year - Juno and Michael Clayton) and catching the rest a year or two later on cable.  Even still, I know that "I drink your milkshake" is the catch phrase of early 2008.