Daniel Day Lewis as Lincoln

[Yavin4]

The movie is Steven Spielberg's adaptation of Doris Kearn Goodwin's book, Team of Rivals.

Among the other central characters are David Strathairn, as Lincoln’s loyal Secretary of State, William Seward; Lincoln’s sons, Tad (Dark Shadows‘ Gulliver McGrath) and Robert (Joseph Gordon-Levitt); his wife Mary Todd Lincoln (Sally Field); and “one of his most engaging and challenging adversaries, Thaddeus Stevens (Tommy Lee Jones), a radical member of Lincoln’s own party,” Spielberg says.

http://insidemovies.ew.com/2012/08/07/first-look-daniel-day-lewis-lincoln/

Thaddeus Stevens is an interesting character. In his day he was known as a "Radical Republican". From his wiki page:

Stevens led the Radical Republican faction in their battle against the bankers over the issuance of money during the Civil War. Stevens made various speeches in Congress in favor of President Lincoln and Henry Carey's "Greenback" system, interest-free currency in the form of fiat government-issued United States Notes that would effectively threaten the bankers' profits in being able to issue and control the currency through fractional reserve loans.

Stevens was the leader of the Radical Republicans, who had full control of Congress after the 1866 elections. He largely set the course of Reconstruction. He wanted to begin to rebuild the South, using military power to force the South to recognize the equality of Freedmen.

He defended and supported Native Americans, Seventh-day Adventists, Mormons, Jews, Chinese, and women. However, the defense of runaway or fugitive slaves gradually began to consume the greatest amount of his time, until the abolition of slavery became his primary political and personal focus. He was actively involved in the Underground Railroad, assisting runaway slaves in getting to Canada. An Underground Railroad site has been discovered under his office in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thaddeus_Stevens

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

1. A fine (Irish) actor who will probably do the role justice.

[DefenseLawyer]

2. I hope there is less overacting than in "There Will Be Blood"

Good God Ya'll.

[RZM]

3. Agreed. I was diappointed in that movie and in his performance

He's a great actor, but that was just too much. I'm not a huge Paul Thomas Anderson fan anyway. He's good at what he does, but has a tendency to go overboard as well.

I think he'll be good as Lincoln though. I think playing a real person is perfect for somebody with Lewis' meticulous style. He probably went all out learning about Lincoln and will do the role justice.

[GodlessBiker]

4. Have loved DDL since My Beautiful Launderette.