Old photos of a teenage Daniel Day-Lewis show hints of Lincoln

Want to see Daniel Day-Lewis as a 16-year-old? No, it's not his latest acting role -- this is the three-time Oscar winner as an actual teenager.

Photos have emerged of the 55-year-old "Lincoln" star in some of his first roles: as a Lincoln-esque Russian soldier Alexander Vershinin in Chekhov's "Three Sisters," and as a long-haired Feste in Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night."

Day-Lewis transferred to Bedales, a creative independent school in Hampshire, England, in his early teens, and the move reportedly led to his film debut as a 14-year-old vandal in "Sunday Bloody Sunday." After graduating in 1975, he attended the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.

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Following the British actor's Oscar win on Sunday, Bedales's headmaster issued the statement, "Congratulations to Daniel Day-Lewis from all of us at Bedales on his unique achievement in winning his third Oscar for Best Actor. When he was at school here he took part in many plays, as well as being fully involved in many other areas of school life. It is great to see his formidable talents and hard work so fully recognised."

Even as a teenager, Day-Lewis looked mature beyond his years. He continued to defy his age this past weekend when he became the only three-time best-actor Oscar winner in history after winning the trophy for his role as Abraham Lincoln in Spielberg's eponymous biopic. Day-Lewis previously won the award for his role as paraplegic Irish writer Christy Brown in "My Left Foot" in 1989, and for the part of oil man Daniel Plainview in 2007's "There Will Be Blood."

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"I need to ... lie down for a couple of years," he quipped backstage at the ceremony, adding, "It's really hard to imagine doing anything after this."

The handsome actor reportedly spent months researching Lincoln's life as well as the 19th-century language and culture, going so far as to text onscreen wife Sally Field in historically appropriate vernacular months before hitting the set.