As I said before, he was billed under Leonardo DiCaprio in Gangs of New York. As great of an actor that he is he is not a star.

Tom Cruise, Will Smith, Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio = star.

He is in my book.

Daniel Day Lewis is a movie star. He's certainly not an accountant.

What other career occupation would you designate?

You don't have to be mega-box office superstar to considered a movie star. I think he's had a successful enough career, what with his two Best Actor Oscars, leading man roles in big budget A-List films and worldwide acclaim to fit into that category.

He's my favourite actor and well respected by his peers but certainly not a star. Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Cruise are stars. It doesn't mean they have more talent than Daniel Day Lewis (quite the reverse) but they would have an easier time filling a movie theater than Daniel Day Lewis.

If you have to be on that level, then hardly anyone is a star. Outside of Gangs, DDL has top billing for all his movies since the late 80s. He's won major awards and is famous enough that even casual filmgoers know who he is. He's an actor that film productions are built around. That's a star in my book.

So unless you can fill a movie theater on your name alone....you're not a star?

If you asked any director that has worked with DDL if he was a star, would any of them say no?

I would say he is a true thespian, an actor's actor.

He's not a 'movie star', thank goodness, we have more of those than we need.

The sad reality is that the answer to your question is yes.

This is how I feel about him.

You win an Oscar, you're a star. Yes, even if your name is Marissa Tomei or Cuba Gooding, Jr.

The good doctor has summed my feelings up nicely.

I believe you can be a true thespian, an actor's actor... and a star.

There are plenty of examples.

Nicholson, DeNiro, Hoffman, Kinski, Pacino, Mifune, Hackman, Norton, Crowe, etc

If we're talking movie star like DiCaprio, Cruise, Depp, etc, then no. I don't think the average joe quite gets their panties wet when Daniel Day Lewis stars in a movie like for the former guys. But Daniel Day Lewis gets guys like us who like movies dripping wet when his name is on a movie. So, he's a movie geek's movie star.

Fassbender!

That's the only way I'd see him being defined as a star.

Google searches:

Daniel Day Lewis movie star..... 9,400,000 results
Daniel Day Lewis star..............20,020,000 results
Daniel Day Lewis movie actor.... 5,010,000 results
Daniel Day Lewis actor...............3,070,000 results

He's a star. Case closed.

TWBB made him a star, if before that he was not one he now rose to that stature.

i'll bet 9 out of 10 joe six packs couldn't tell you who this guy was:

I love James Taylor!

Yeah but if you asked ten actual movie goers...I'd bet the numbers would be quite a bit higher.

As much as I'd like to believe that I'm not sure it's true.

As a small test I just asked my girlfriend if she knew who he was. Her answer was that she vaguely knew the name but couldn't place him or name any movies he's been in.

The way he transforms himself for each role, 9 out of 10 actual Hollywood actors probably couldn't tell you who he was.

Tom Hanks was billed second to DiCaprio in Catch Me If You Can. Is he not a star either?

I'm sure Tom, Daniel and their combined 4 Oscars commiserate together over their low ranking on the celebrity totem pole.

Marisa Tomei is a movie star though. I think a better example would be naming people like Melissa Leo, Brenda Fricker, Octavia Spencer or Jean Dujardin.

He's more of an actual actor than a movie star, like Sean Penn or Forrest Whitaker. I mean he's been involved in some great stuff but I don't think he chooses his roles based on how many toys and video games the movie will sell like a Will Smith, Tom Cruise, or Robert Downey, Jr.

Fact: Tom Cruise has never licensed his likeness for a toy.

(Yes, I'm kinda nerdy)