Lincoln - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

Fan of Lincoln or just want to share your movie knowledge? This topic is dedicated to all trivia and questions related to Lincoln

[russell]

In a scene wherein Robert Todd Lincoln debates with his father, who is getting ready for a White House event, Tad sits on the edge of the bed looking at glass photograph plates with a candle. One such photograph is of a slave named Gordon, who is also subject of a photograph entitled "The Scourged Back". These photos were taken by McPherson and Oliver out of New Orleans and were widely circulated by abolitionists as some of the earliest forms of propaganda in the fight to pass the 13th amendment to end slavery.

[sophie]

In this movie, Lincoln occasionally refers to his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, as "Molly." This was a real-life term of endearment that Abraham Lincoln sometimes called her; it was a family nickname from her childhood.

[lynn]

Reunites three actors from the cast of And the Band Played On (1993): Stephen Spinella, Peter McRobbie, and Dakin Matthews.

[mathew]

During the time when he was expected to play the title role, Liam Neeson did an extensive and timely amount of research on Abraham Lincoln. He read over twenty books and visited with the then-existing Lincoln Bicentennial Committee in Washington, D.C. The committee granted Neeson access to Lincoln's history such as personal letters. Neeson also visited Ford's Theater and viewed personal items such as Lincoln's wallet and the Bible used for his inauguration.

[kenzi]

Harrison Ford was rumored to appear in the film in a role as Vice President Andrew Johnson at one point during the development of the film, but the rumor has since become completely unsubstantiated after all the delays and turnarounds on the film's development over the years. Ultimately, there is no mention nor sign of Johnson's character in the final version of the film, with the possible exception of the inauguration scene.

[richard]

This was the last Steven Spielberg movie to which renowned film critic Roger Ebert gave a review before his death in April 2013. Ebert gave the film a perfect four stars out of four.

[javier]

Liam Neeson, who was attached to play Abraham Lincoln since the project began development, decided to drop out. According to Neeson, he felt he was too old to play the part after waiting so many years for the project to get the go-ahead. Incidentally, Daniel Day-Lewis is only five years Neeson's junior, though still closest in age to Lincoln, who was 55 and 56 years of age at the time portrayed in the film.

[kenneth]

Daniel Day-Lewis is the seventh and, as of 2018, last actor from Gandhi (1982) to appear in a film for Steven Spielberg. Ben Kingsley appeared in Schindler's List (1993), Roshan Seth and Amrish Puri appeared in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), Martin Sheen in Catch Me If You Can (2002), Nigel Hawthorne in Amistad (1997), and Richard Attenborough in Jurassic Park (1993).

[tamara]

Describing his experience playing Abraham Lincoln, Daniel Day-Lewis said, "I never, ever felt that depth of love for another human being that I never met. And that's, I think, probably the effect that Lincoln has on most people that take the time to discover him... I wish he had stayed (with me) forever."

[caroline]

The film debuted in the same year as another movie about another former American President, which was Hyde Park on Hudson (2012), which was about U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

[victoria]

During the three and a half months of filming, Steven Spielberg addressed his actors in character: he called Daniel Day-Lewis "Mr. President" (i.e. Abraham Lincoln) and Sally Field "Mrs. Lincoln," or "Molly" (i.e. Mary Todd Lincoln). Additionally, he wore a suit every day on set: "I think I wanted to get into the role, more than anything else, of being part of that experience - because we were recreating a piece of history. And so I didn't want to look like the schlubby, baseball cap wearing 21st century guy; I wanted to be like the cast."

[steve]

In 2004 Steven Spielberg asked Liam Neeson to take on the lead role for this film project, and he accepted. Over the next 4 years Liam read over 20 books, visited government offices, as well as doing additional research in Lincoln's hometown of Springfield, under the auspices of doing a full presidency bio of Lincoln from election to assassination. The original screen writer was John Logan, however playwright Paul Webb rewrote the script. When Doris Kearns Goodwin wrote the book "Team of Rivals", yet another script was done by screenwriter Tony Kushner. This last version focused on the final four months of LIncoln's life, fighting to get the 13th Amendment passed. In 2008 when it was time to begin screening, not only was the idea of the original project changed, but Liam had lost his wife of 14 years only one month before. The new script was not a good fit with Liam, and Spielberg was able to cast his original preference for the role.

[amber]

According to Steven Spielberg during a chat at the University of Southern California's film school, the film came very close to premiering on HBO as opposed to premiering in theaters. Spielberg claimed that the only reason why the film reached theaters was due to his co-ownership in DreamWorks Pictures, which was one of the studios behind the film's release.