Miller: Probably the most important thing I've learned is what not to say, although the temptation is always there to share all your thoughts with an actor.ĭay-Lewis: Especially after a couple of Americanos! She will guide them if they need that, and she will leave them alone if that's what they need.

She has the strength of self-possession not to be threatened by that. In fact she relishes working with not just actors but everyone on the set. A lot of directors get into that line of work maybe for the wrong reasons - they are really in the business of manipulation - and that to me seems self-defeating. A director often doesn't know what an actor needs to look for, but neither do they have to be in control of that. What the best directors do is to create a field where everybody senses the freedom to do the best work they can and a sense of openness. I got a strong sense from watching her working - and it's the same with the other people I've most enjoyed working with, Martin and Jim - that the word 'director' is misleading in itself. I must say it was the most delicious antidote to that whole experience on Gangs, not that that wasn't very rewarding in so many ways.

I came back from eight months of shooting Gangs of New York, and I saw her tell three stories in just a three-week shoot. Day-Lewis: I had a chance to watch Rebecca working when she made Personal Velocity.

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