It has been a long while since anyone saw or heard from the acclaimed actor Daniel Day-Lewis. After he announcement in 2017 that he would no longer pursue acting, just before the debut of The Phantom Thread, the actor quietly faded from view. However, during his hiatus, his legend expanded further.
The Mythos of His Acting Method
Largely, this reputation revolves around his preferred approach to roles. As someone known for disappears into his characters – for example, during the Lincoln biopic, reportedly asked Steven Spielberg address him as “Mr President” for the entire production – audiences has become more fascinated with his process. Did he really send texts to Sally Field as Abraham Lincoln? Did he consumed solely animals he’d killed during The Last of the Mohicans? And did he demand being spoon-fed while filming My Left Foot?
Madness in their method: has the public lost interest with actorly excess?
Now, Daniel Day-Lewis has returned to public attention, with some hesitation, promoting his latest movie Anemone. And he is taking this chance to vocalise his anger regarding how method acting is viewed. “I am somewhat annoyed nowadays when I hear all kinds of people gobbling off and using phrases like ‘fully embraced the Method’, which I think suggests that someone is acting insane in a drastic way,” he told a major publication. “People tends to focus on the less important aspects of acting, and those details always seem to involve some sort of self-flagellation or a situation that imposes upon oneself a severe discomfort or mental instability. However, in the career of an actor, it must mainly focus on the internal work.”
A World Full of Followers
Frankly, it appears as if the actor has emerged from his retreat only to discover aghast at the acting community that has been created in his image. When you are widely considered among the best actors in history, and your approach includes striking a prop until you break your nose (in Gangs of New York) or spending 48 hours in solitary confinement without food or water (during In the Name of the Father), it’s natural that fellow performers will attempt to emulate that example by imitating your hero.
In other words, we now live in an environment full of imperfect imitators of Day-Lewis who strive only to show the world the sheer amount of dedication they invest in their roles. On the milder side of the pool there are performers such as Lady Gaga, who was determined to win an Oscar for House of Gucci that she dedicated the entire promotion trying to convince everyone that she transformed into functionally Italian for a year and a half in preparation.
Additionally, there is Jared Leto, who chose to deeply embed himself in the character as the Joker (for Suicide Squad) through sending “disturbing” presents to his castmates. These items, according to various accounts, included deceased animals to intimate objects and used condoms, although Leto denied those worst excesses. And then, of course, there is Jim Carrey, who went so deep as Andy Kaufman for Man on the Moon that they literally managed in creating a full-length documentary out of B-roll of him causing difficulties to the utmost for his colleagues.
The Modern Followers of the Method
The foremost practitioner of the Method currently would appear to be Jeremy Strong (formerly an assistant to Day-Lewis), whose process while filming Succession was so rigorously detailed that it formed the subject of a derisive magazine feature, full of quotes from people who were worried about his conduct (“It’s the cost on himself that worries me,” remarked co-star Brian Cox) or annoyed beyond all measure by his actions (“I recall [him] making everyone else to react with exasperation,” stated an unnamed co-star).
Daniel Day-Lewis says he ‘never intended to stop acting, truly’
There are numerous additional cases. Andrew Garfield abstained from sex over half a year for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio rested inside an animal carcass for The Revenant. There’s a fighting chance that Austin Butler still speaks in the style of Elvis, three years after that film came out. All of this, in part, is meant to invoke the dedication in which Day-Lewis takes his work.
A Noble But Uphill Battle
And, while his fightback to critics of the Method might be noble, a short publicity tour may prove insufficient to change anyone’s mind, let alone their practices. Perhaps if he wishes to remind people the true essence of the Method, or to demonstrate what it can achieve, then the optimal strategy for Day-Lewis is to simply start making more films. Certainly everyone would get behind that.
