Joseph Gordon-Levitt now also known as JGL in Hollywood jargon whose recent role in “The Dark Knight Rises” started people talking about a spin off movie on Robin is on a roll after his strong screen presence as the masked crusader’s loyal ally. From his other previous works spanning various film genres such as “500 Days of Summer,” “Looper,” “Premium Rush,” “Inception” and “A River Runs Through It” now comes his most notable role in the Steven Spielberg-directed Academy-award nominated thrilling epic “Lincoln.”

JGL forms part of an Award-Winning cast in “Lincoln” headed by Daniel Day-Lewis in the title role, Sally Field and Tommy Lee Jones. The movie focuses on the last four months of Abraham Lincoln, illuminating the man as a political genius, as an anguished family man and, most of all, as a courageous defender of the United States of America.

A rich human drama plays out as Lincoln doubles down to end the devastating Civil War not merely by ending the war but by fighting to pass the 13th Amendment, permanently abolishing slavery. It will be an act of true national daring. He will have to call upon all the skill, courage and moral fortitude for which he’ll become legend. He will grapple with the impact of his actions on the world and on those he loves. But what lies in the balance is what always mattered most to Lincoln: to compel the American people, and thosein his government of opposite persuasions, to alter course and aim higher, toward a greater good for all mankind.

In condensing the last four months of Lincoln’s life, the filmmakers felt it imperativie to expound on the Lincoln marriage as well which was put under further stress by the desire of their oldest son, Robert, to join the Union Army and make his own contribution to the war effort. At 21 and a promising Harvard student, Robert Lincoln didn’t have to go war like so many young men, yet he felt compelled to be part of this historic moment. His parents felt otherwise. Knowing the staggering mortality rate and still reeling from the death of their son Willie, both tried to keep him a civilian in their own ways.

Portraying the president’s oldest son (and the only Lincoln child to survive to adulthood) is Joseph Gordon-Levitt. He tried to place himself into Bob Lincoln’s dilemma. “Being privileged, I think Bob knows he is fortunate—because who wants to fight in this war where so many are dying?” says Gordon-Levitt. “At the same time, because of his circumstances, he’s been taken out of what’s happening in the country. And that’s tough for him because he also really believes in the cause of this war, believes in the rights of human beings, and that makes him want to fight.”

Like Field, Gordon-Levitt first communicated with Daniel Day-Lewis in a more 21st century manner: via texting. “It was a little bizarre to be texting with someone that I’ve idolized all my life,” he muses. “But it was a delight. He is such a sweet and generous guy with his words. It really meant a lot when he said,‘You’re my first choice of who I want to do this.’”

Gordon-Levitt says that one of his greatest gratifications was bringing out the more fallible side of Lincoln’s character, a side many have never seen. “I like that this movie doesn’t turn Lincoln into a saint,” he says. “What he accomplished in abolishing slavery was a truly great thing; but this movie also shows the compromises he had to make, the things that he had to do that were questionable in order to accomplish that goal. Bob is a good example of that because he really never was able to have much of a relationship with his father. That was a big sacrifice and showed how complicated Lincoln’s life was. History is made by human beings and I like that this story portrays Lincoln as a human being with personal flaws and hypocrisies as well as real strengths and virtues.”

Gordon-Levitt felt a similar effect with Sally Field. “We were realistic towards each other, calling each other ‘Mom’ and ‘Son’ and things like that. I know that might sound weird to an outsider but when you play things that real, everything becomes more genuine,” he summarizes.

“Lincoln” opens February 20 in cinemas from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by WarnerBros.

Academy-Award winner Daniel Day-Lewis (“My Left Foot,” “There Will Be Blood”) is also this year’s Academy-award nominee front runner for his titular role in the Steven Spielberg-directed movie “Lincoln.”

Daniel Day-Lewis stars in Steven Spielberg’s powerful drama, “Lincoln,” which focuses on the last four months in the life of the 16th President of the United States. During this pivotal period, Abraham Lincoln abolished slavery and ended the Civil War that had ravaged the country and taken an estimated 750,000 lives. With an astonishing performance from Day-Lewis and masterful direction by Spielberg, a portrait emerges of a political genius who was also a moral visionary and a warm, compassionate man.

Daniel Day-Lewis plays Abraham Lincoln, the far-sighted American president known as ‘The Great Emancipator’ and widely regarded as the most influential statesman of the 19th century. Lincoln is determined to free the slaves, even if it means prolonging the Civil War and Steven Spielberg’s momentous new film delivers fresh and fascinating insights into the brilliant leader, explaining how the path to emancipation was fraught with complexity.

“Lincoln” explains how the President engages in backroom deals, patronage and political machinations in order to secure the passage of the all-important 13th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, the measure that officially ended the evils of human bondage. He directs the war effort toward the destruction of slavery with insight and political mastery, deliberately prolonging the war and delaying peace negotiations as he tries to build a bipartisan consensus in the House of Representatives.

Bearing a remarkable resemblance to the 16th President, Daniel Day-Lewis gives a wonderfully measured and nuanced performance as Lincoln. With his impassioned portrayal of abolitionist Thaddeus Stevens, Tommy Lee Jones offers up the performance of a lifetime. Sally Field is equally impressive as Lincoln’s highly intelligent but troubled wife, Mary Todd Lincoln. William Seward, Lincoln’s former rival who becomes the President’s greatest supporter, is masterfully played by David Strathairn. The formidably talented cast includes Joseph Gordon Levitt, James Spader, Hal Holbrook, John Hawkes, Jackie Earle Haley, Bruce McGill, Tim Blake Nelson, Joseph Cross, Jared Harris and Lee Pace.

Like many people, Day-Lewis was initially familiar with Lincoln only in broad strokes, mostly through speeches like The Gettysburg Address. “But as a human being, I had little sense of him whatsoever until I began to learn,” he says. The screenplay kicked off the learning process. “In a very rich way, (screenwriter) Tony suggested the man through his intellect, his humor and his melancholy, both domestically and in office. The contrast between those two things is something that’s like food and drink to me. In Tony’s script you see a man in that strange paradox of being both public and private.”

He then undertook an intimate engagement with “Team of Rivals” from which the movie was in part based as well as many other writings about and by Lincoln. But this gave way to something more organic. “Doris’ book was a great beginning,” Day-Lewis says. Another key to Lincoln became what Day-Lewis calls “the rhythm of the man.” He explains: “He did everything at his own pace and could only do it at his own pace. He needed to arrive at his decisive conclusions by a logical process that he relied on. What looked to others like inaction or paralysis was just the physical impression that he gave. In his own mind he was traveling as he needed to do, through each step of the process, after which he could see things clearly.”

Indeed, production designer Rick Carter recalls a feeling of tumbling through time when Day-Lewis first came to the set: “I haven’t gotten over the first time I saw him,” muses Carter. “Daniel Day-Lewis was not who I saw in front of me. I saw the man who was the President of the United States in 1865. I saw Abraham Lincoln. I didn’t see any distinction or gap between them.”

“Lincoln” opens February 20 in theaters from 20th Century Fox and DreamWorks Pictures to be distributed by Warner Bros.

“From avant-garde filmmaker Steven Spielberg comes a sweeping epic essaying the final moments of a man’s legacy in Lincoln, starring Academy Award Winners Daniel Day Lewis, Sally Field and Tommy Lee Jones. 

“20^th Century Fox, Dreamworks Pictures present in association with Participant Media further reveals in Lincoln’s international trailer (VIEW TRAILER HERE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=v8ZLQ6UV7RI) the final four months of Abraham Lincoln’s life and presidency.  The full measure of the man—his passion and his humanity—came to bear on his defining battle:  to plot a forward path for a shattered nation, against overwhelming odds and extreme public and personal pressure.

“Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln provides an intimate immersion into the American leader’s most perilous and revealing moments, at a time when the dark shadow of slavery lifts and a country torn by war must be made whole.

“Brought to life via a layered screenplay by Pulitzer Prize winner Tony Kushner, Spielberg’s starkly human storytelling and the performance of Daniel Day-Lewis leading an accomplished cast, the film invites audiences directly into the heart and soul of Lincoln’s final achievements. The Lincoln who emerges is a man of raw paradoxes: funny and solemn, a playful storyteller and fierce power broker, a shrewd commander and a vulnerable father. But in his nation’s darkest hour, when the times demand the very best of people, he reaches from within himself for something powerful and everlasting.

“Lincoln opens in Philippine cinemas on February 20, 2013 from 20^th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.”