Choirboy Daniel Day-Lewis

Daniel Day-Lewis used his choirboy past to help him prepare for 'Nine'.

The British actor - who plays womanising director Guido Contini in the musical movie - struggled to get his head around portraying a character which sang and danced because he hadn't performed since he went to church as a youngster.

He said: "I sang as a choirboy in local church when I was a schoolboy, but other than that, I hadn't done any singing to speak of. Rob Marshall, the director, convinced me, really against my better judgment, that I would be able to pull it off."

At first, the 52-year-old actor was desperate to avoid the role because he thought Rob could find someone better suited.

He explained to Parade.com: "I really tried to think of every excuse I could not to do it because I felt he needed somebody else. I think I gave him a few names actually, but he kept saying, 'No, I think you can sing.'

"I was nervous as hell. What gives you courage is you're playing a character who's singing. Without that, you'd have nowhere to hide. We all worry about the quality of our voices if we're not singers. We're worried the whole time about the sound that we're making which finally, although it's not irrelevant, is not the most important thing."