Honestly, walking into a theater in 2012 to watch a biopic about the 16th President felt like a bit of a gamble. We’ve all seen the stiff, wax-figure versions of the Civil War era. But the cast of movie Lincoln didn't just play dress-up; they basically resurrected a dead century. Steven Spielberg didn't just hire actors; he assembled a cabinet of heavy hitters who could handle Doris Kearns Goodwin’s massive historical research.
It worked.
Daniel Day-Lewis is the obvious starting point, but the bench was incredibly deep. You had Tommy Lee Jones snarling through a wig, Sally Field fighting for her character's sanity, and a pre-fame Adam Driver just hanging out in the background as a telegraph operator. It’s a weirdly crowded film.
The Daniel Day-Lewis Transformation
Everyone talks about the voice. Before this movie, the "standard" Lincoln voice in pop culture was a deep, booming baritone. Think Hall of Presidents. But Daniel Day-Lewis actually did the homework. He found historical accounts describing Lincoln’s voice as high-pitched, almost reedy, and thin. It’s jarring for the first five minutes. Then, it becomes the only way you can imagine the man speaking.
Day-Lewis is famous for his "method," which is a term people throw around a lot, but here it meant he stayed in character for the entire shoot. He asked the British cast members not to speak to him in their native accents so he wouldn't lose his rural Kentucky-turned-Illinois drawl.
Spielberg even called him "Mr. President" on set.
It sounds pretentious until you see the result. The way he moves is heavy. He looks like a man whose bones are actually tired from the weight of 600,000 deaths. He captures that specific "Lincoln" walk—the flat-footed shuffle that people noted in the 1860s. He won his third Best Actor Oscar for this, and honestly, nobody else stood a chance that year.
👉 See also: Album Hopes and Fears: Why We Obsess Over Music That Doesn't Exist Yet
Sally Field and the Fight for Mary Todd
Sally Field had to fight for this role. Literally. Spielberg originally thought she was too old for the part because of the age gap with Day-Lewis in real life. But Field knew the history. She knew Mary Todd Lincoln was a complicated, often maligned figure who was younger than her husband but aged prematurely by the loss of her children.
She stayed in character too.
The chemistry between her and Day-Lewis is tense. It’s not a "movie romance." It’s a marriage held together by grief and politics. Field portrays Mary as a brilliant political mind who was essentially trapped by the gender norms of her time. When she snaps at Thaddeus Stevens at a reception, you see the fire that made her both Lincoln's greatest asset and his most difficult challenge.
Tommy Lee Jones as the Moral Engine
If Day-Lewis is the heart of the cast of movie Lincoln, Tommy Lee Jones is the grit. Playing Thaddeus Stevens, the radical Republican leader, Jones gets all the best lines. Tony Kushner’s script gave him a dry, acidic wit that Jones delivers with a face that looks like it was carved out of a granite cliff.
- He wears a wig that is intentionally slightly askew.
- He uses sarcasm as a defensive weapon.
- He represents the "pure" abolitionist view that often clashed with Lincoln’s slower, more pragmatic approach.
The scene where he returns home at the end of the film is perhaps the most touching moment in the whole two-and-a-half-hour runtime. It reminds us that for Stevens, the 13th Amendment wasn't just a political win; it was deeply personal.
The Supporting Players You Forgot Were There
The sheer density of the cast of movie Lincoln is staggering. You look at a scene with three guys in a basement and realize it's James Spader, John Hawkes, and Tim Blake Nelson.
✨ Don't miss: The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads: Why This Live Album Still Beats the Studio Records
Spader is a delight. He plays W.N. Bilbo, a lobbyist who is basically there for comic relief. He’s sleazy, colorful, and feels like he stepped out of a different, sweatier movie. It provides the necessary "oxygen" in a film that is otherwise very dark and filled with cigar smoke.
Then there’s Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Robert Todd Lincoln. His role is smaller, focusing on the friction of a son wanting to prove himself in a war his father is desperately trying to end. It’s a quiet performance, but it anchors the domestic stakes of the story.
The Political Operatives
- David Strathairn as William Seward: He plays the Secretary of State as a weary, loyal right hand. He’s the guy who has to tell Lincoln when he’s being too idealistic.
- Hal Holbrook as Preston Blair: A veteran actor playing a veteran politician. Holbrook actually played Lincoln himself in a 1970s miniseries, which adds a cool meta-layer to his presence here.
- Lee Pace as Fernando Wood: He plays the opposition with such oily charisma that you almost forget he's arguing for the continuation of slavery.
Why the Casting Made the History Work
Casting a historical drama is dangerous. If you get it wrong, it looks like a high school play with a big budget. Spielberg avoided this by casting people with "period" faces.
What does that mean?
It means he chose actors who didn't look like they just walked out of a CrossFit gym or had modern dental veneers. Jared Harris (as Ulysses S. Grant) looks like he actually smells like gunpowder and cheap whiskey. Jackie Earle Haley looks like he’s been living on hardtack for three years.
This visual authenticity allows the dialogue—which is dense and Shakespearean—to feel natural. When these men talk about the "procedural motions" of the House of Representatives, you believe they’ve spent their whole lives in those cramped, wood-paneled rooms.
🔗 Read more: Wrong Address: Why This Nigerian Drama Is Still Sparking Conversations
Small Roles, Big Impact
Even the actors with only five minutes of screen time leave a mark. S. Epatha Merkerson has a brief, wordless moment near the end of the film that carries more emotional weight than most three-act movies. Lukas Haas and Dane DeHaan show up as soldiers in the beginning, grounding the political talk in the brutal reality of the front lines.
And let's talk about Adam Driver. He was barely known when this came out. He plays Samuel Beckwith, the telegraph operator. He’s mostly there to hand Lincoln papers and look stoic, but you can already see that weird, magnetic intensity that made him a star later on.
Accuracy vs. Dramatization
Critics sometimes argue about the "cast of movie Lincoln" and how they portray certain figures. Some historians feel the film makes the white politicians too much the "heroes" of abolition, potentially sidelining the work of Black activists of the time. While the film focuses narrowly on the legislative battle of the 13th Amendment, it does include figures like Elizabeth Keckley (played by Gloria Reuben), Mary Todd’s confidante and a former slave who became a successful seamstress.
The film is a "procedural." It's about the "how" of politics.
Because the actors are so convincing, we tend to take the movie as 100% gospel. It’s important to remember it’s a dramatization. But as far as dramatizations go, it’s about as respectful to the source material as Hollywood gets.
Actionable Steps for Film Buffs and Students
If you’re diving into this movie for a class or just because you’re a history nerd, don't just watch it once.
- Watch the "Petting the Dog" moments: Notice how Daniel Day-Lewis uses physical touch. He’s always touching people’s shoulders or leaning in. It’s a specific trait Lincoln had to disarm his enemies.
- Listen for the "reedy" voice: Compare it to actual historical descriptions found in books like Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin.
- Spot the character actors: See how many actors from The Wire, Mad Men, or the Marvel Cinematic Universe you can spot. It’s like a "Who’s Who" of the 2010s.
- Track the 13th Amendment vote: Watch how the different factions of the cast of movie Lincoln interact during the final roll call. The tension is built entirely through faces and reactions, not action sequences.
The movie isn't just about a guy on a five-dollar bill. It’s about the messy, gross, and often unethical ways that good things actually get done in government. Without this specific group of actors, it might have been a dry history lesson. Instead, it’s a masterclass in performance.
To truly appreciate the depth of the casting, your next step should be watching the "Making of Lincoln" featurettes, specifically focusing on the costume design by Joanna Johnston. She worked closely with the actors to ensure that their physical appearance—from the weight of the wool to the fit of the boots—informed how they moved and stayed in character throughout the production.