Daniel Day Lewis almost quit Nine

52-year-old actor Daniel Day Lewis plays Italian film director Guido Contini , who suffers a crisis of confidence, in the new musical movie Nine.

Daniel was terrified by the idea of starring in the film as he didn’t think his singing and dancing was up to scratch. He even went as far as to ask director Rob Marshall to find a substitute, but eventually changed him mind.

“Guido is four or five days away from shooting a film and he hasn’t a fucking idea in his head,” Daniel told Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper. “I did say to Rob in the early stages, ‘Is there any way of getting out of this? I have a list of actors who could do it tomorrow!’ He tried to convince me I could sing and I said, ‘You’ve no idea if I can sing or not!’”

Daniel was eventually convinced to give the musical a go, but flatly refused to take part in many of the dance numbers. “I sang feebly a couple of times and on the grounds of that Rob managed to convince me it was worth pursuing,” he explained.

“I know dancers, I know what they have to do with their bodies. I can climb, run, cycle, box. But I can’t dance.

“In the bits where I do dance I used a lot of 3-in-1 to lubricate those stiff old joints. It’s not natural grace – that’s sheer effort of will. Like a lot of ageing athletes, I tend to be creaky. My limbs are a mass of scar tissue through years of doing stuff I shouldn’t have.”