It’s been a long while since the public caught a glimpse of the acclaimed actor Daniel Day-Lewis. After he announcement in 2017 that he would cease to work as an actor, just before the debut of The Phantom Thread, the actor quietly faded from view. However, during his hiatus, his reputation expanded further.
The Mythos Surrounding His Method
Largely, this reputation revolves around his favored approach to roles. As someone who famously immerses himself in the roles he plays – for instance, during the Lincoln biopic, reportedly asked the director address him as “Mr. President” throughout the shoot – the world has become more fascinated with how he works. Did he really send messages to co-star Sally Field in character as Lincoln? Was it accurate that he consumed solely animals he’d killed for Last of the Mohicans? And did he demand being spoon-fed for My Left Foot?
Extreme acting methods: has the public lost interest with over-the-top performances?
Now, Daniel Day-Lewis is back in the limelight, somewhat reluctantly, for his new film Anemone. And he is taking this chance to vocalise his anger at how method acting is perceived. “I am somewhat annoyed nowadays when I hear all kinds of people talking carelessly and using phrases like ‘fully embraced the Method’, which seems suggests that a person’s behaving like a lunatic in a drastic way,” he told the New York Times. “Everyone tends to focus on the less important details of the work, and those details typically include some sort of self-punishment or a situation that imposes upon oneself a severe discomfort or psychological strain. But of course, in the life of an actor, it must mainly focus on the inner transformation.”
An Industry of Imitators
To be honest, it appears like the actor has come out from his retreat and found himself aghast at the acting community that has been created mirroring his methods. When you are widely considered among the best performers in history, and your process includes striking a prop until you break your nose (in Gangs of New York) or spending two days in isolation deprived of sustenance (for In the Name of the Father), it’s natural that fellow performers will want to emulate that example by trying to mimic their idol.
Essentially, we now live in an environment full of half-cocked Day-Lewis impersonators who strive only to demonstrate the sheer amount of effort they put into a character. At the shallow end of this trend there are performers such as Lady Gaga, who was determined to earn an Academy Award with House of Gucci that she dedicated the entire promotion attempting to persuade people that she transformed into functionally Italian over 18 months in preparation.
Additionally, there is Jared Leto, who decided to immerse himself into the role of the Joker (in Suicide Squad) through sending “horrifying” presents to fellow cast members. These, according to various accounts, included dead pigs and rats to intimate objects and used condoms, although Leto denied the most extreme claims. And then, of course, we have Jim Carrey, who immersed himself so fully into Andy Kaufman during Man on the Moon that filmmakers succeeded to get a feature-length documentary out of B-roll of him causing difficulties to the utmost for his colleagues.
The Modern Followers of the Method
The main Method Guy at the moment seems to be Jeremy Strong (formerly Day-Lewis’s assistant), whose approach while filming Succession was so laboriously intensive that it formed the basis of a derisive magazine feature, full of quotes from people who were worried for his behaviour (“The toll on himself that worries me,” said co-star Brian Cox) or extremely irritated by it (“I recall him causing others roll their eyes,” said an anonymous cast member).
The actor claims he ‘did not plan to retire, truly’
There are so many other examples. Andrew Garfield abstained from sex over half a year while preparing for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio rested inside an animal carcass for The Revenant. It’s quite possible that actor Austin Butler continues to talk like Elvis Presley, three years after the movie’s release. Each of these instances, in part, aims to evoke the dedication in which Day-Lewis takes his work.
An Admirable Yet Challenging Fight
And, while his fightback to critics of the Method could be commendable, a brief promotional cycle may prove insufficient to alter perceptions, not to mention their behaviour. Perhaps if he wants to remind people the true essence of the Method, or to demonstrate its potential results, then Day-Lewis’s best bet is to just start making more films. Surely everyone would support that idea.
