Hollywood director Steven Speilberg and actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt hosted an interactive video chat last night where they premiered the trailer for "Lincoln," the highly anticipated historical drama starring Daniel Day-Lewis as the 16th president.

The film, an adaptation of Doris Kearns Goodwin's nonfiction book "Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln," focuses on the ending of slavery and the Union victory in the Civil War.

According to Spielberg, Goodwin's entire book about Lincoln's presidency is "much too big" for a film, which is why it will capture his final four months in office as he strives to end the Civil War, unite the nation and abolish slavery.

The trailer for the much anticipated movie opens with a voice-over of Day-Lewis reciting the Gettysburg Address, as well as footage of Civil War scenes that depict a nation in conflict. In addition to the war aspect of the movie, the trailer also features scenes that expose the personal struggles of the Lincoln family.

During the two minute and 21 second trailer, viewers also get a look at the incredible cast of actors tapped to take part in the overdue period film. In addition to Gordon-Levitt, who plays Lincoln's eldest son, Robert, the star-studded cast includes Sally Field as First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln, David Strathairn as Secretary of State William Seward and Tommy Lee Jones as congressman Thaddeus Stevens.

In the beginning of Thursday night's Google Plus interactive chat, Spielberg suggested that the trailer offers "only a slight texture" of the full picture. "It's just a little tone, or an offering of the tone of the film," he said. "The movie's really about the content of Lincoln's life."

The Academy Award winning director added that "We treat him as a man, not a monument." The statement was seemingly an effort to humanize Lincoln. Ultimately, he said, the film is about the burden of leadership, about "the kind of weight that Lincoln has to bear."

Gordon-Levitt, who said he'd seen the finished film for the first time earlier in the day, added to Spielberg's. "I just loved seeing a movie where he's a human being that's flawed, that makes mistakes, that has to compromise," he said.

"Lincoln" opens Nov. 9. Watch the full trailer below.

Lincoln Trailer

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