SPRINGFIELD – Leaving nothing to chance, two-time Academy Award winner Daniel Day-Lewis’ preparations to play Abraham Lincoln on film included secretly spending time on the former president’s turf.

Day-Lewis, along with historian Doris Kearns Goodwin and producer Kathleen Kennedy, came to Springfield in November 2010 to tour Lincoln sites, at times standing in the Old State Capitol’s chamber and asking to be left alone for 10 minutes, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

Day-Lewis, the star of Steven Spielberg’s recently released film “Lincoln,” noted the room’s intimacy as he tried to feel the towering 16th president’s lingering presence.