Harold Holzer, perhaps the foremost Lincoln scholar alive today, wasn’t jarred by the bits we’ve seen of Daniel Day-Lewis’ portrayal in the trailer for Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln.” The high-pitched voice is what was surprising to those expecting Hal Holbrook, Gregory Peck or Disneyland’s Mr. Lincoln.
Holzer tells Slate’s Forrest Wickman: “Uncanny, convincing, and historically right.” Wickman write,
“Holzer pointed specifically to ‘the combined Kentucky-Hoosier twang’
and, again, ‘the surprisingly high-pitched voice.’ After all, as Holzer
reaffirmed, ‘Lincoln didn’t growl—in fact some people said he whined!'”
The trailer is below:
