HOLLYWOOD -- Madeleine Stowe would like to set the record straight about her famous embraces with Daniel Day-Lewis in The Last of the Mohicans.

"I did ask to do one of our kissing scenes a second time, but it was not because I was infatuated with Daniel and that he was such a great kisser. It was because I didn't think our first take had worked and Daniel agreed," says Stowe, who stars opposite Gary Sinise in the holiday science fiction thriller Imposter.

Day-Lewis has earned a reputation for immersing himself so deeply in a role that he needs to take at least a year off between projects to recuperate.

"That's a myth," says Stowe. "Daniel simply wants to live his life as fully as possible and making movies back-to-back doesn't allow for that. It has nothing to do with affectation or madness.

"He feels so drained after a film because he puts so much into his performances. He told me to take time off after The Last of the Mohicans, but I explained to him that's not how American actors work. We don't want gaps. We want to keep working."

Stowe says director Terry Gilliam wanted Day-Lewis to play the Brad Pitt role in Twelve Monkeys, but the actor wouldn't return any of his calls.

"Terry asked me to intervene and get Daniel to read the script, but Daniel explained he wasn't reading anything for at least a year."

Stowe says Pitt turned out to be "as detailed and dedicated an actor as Daniel is. I admire Brad because he brings so much to his films, both on the set and on the screen."


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