It’s been a long while since the public caught a glimpse of the acclaimed actor Daniel Day-Lewis. Following his statement in 2017 that he would cease to work as an actor, just before the debut of Phantom Thread, Day-Lewis withdrew from the spotlight. However, during his hiatus, his reputation has only grown.
The Legend of His Acting Method
Primarily, this legend revolves around his preferred approach to roles. As someone who famously immerses himself in his characters – for example, while filming Lincoln, reportedly asked the director call him “Mr. President” throughout the shoot – the world has become increasingly obsessed with how he works. Did he actually sent messages to co-star Sally Field as Abraham Lincoln? Was it accurate that he consumed solely animals he’d killed during The Last of the Mohicans? And did he demand receiving food via spoon 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. He is taking this chance to express his frustration regarding how the Method technique is viewed. “I am somewhat annoyed these days when I hear all kinds of people talking carelessly and saying things like ‘fully embraced the Method’, which seems is meant to imply that a person’s behaving like a lunatic in an extreme fashion,” he told the New York Times. “People often concentrate on superficial details of the work, and those details always seem to involve some sort of self-punishment or a situation that imposes upon oneself extreme unease or psychological strain. However, in the career for a performer, it has to mainly focus on the inner transformation.”
A World of Imitators
Frankly, it appears like the actor has emerged from his retreat only to discover aghast at the acting community that has been created mirroring his methods. When you are regarded as one of the greatest actors in history, and your approach includes striking a prop until you break your nose (for Gangs of New York) or enduring two days in isolation without food or water (for In the Name of the Father), then it stands to reason that other actors will attempt to emulate that example by trying to mimic your hero.
Essentially, we exist in an environment populated by half-cocked Day-Lewis impersonators who want nothing more than to show the world the extensive degree of effort they put into their roles. At the shallow end of this trend we have people like Lady Gaga, who was so desperate to win an Oscar with House of Gucci that she spent the entire promotion trying to convince everyone that she became an Italian native for a year and a half as preparation.
Additionally, there is Jared Leto, who decided to deeply embed himself into the role as the Joker (for Suicide Squad) through sending “disturbing” gifts to fellow cast members. These, according to various accounts, included deceased animals to anal beads and used condoms, although the actor refuted the most extreme claims. Then, of course, we have Jim Carrey, who immersed himself so fully as Andy Kaufman during Man on the Moon that filmmakers succeeded to get a full-length documentary from behind-the-scenes footage of him causing difficulties to the utmost for everyone around him.
Contemporary Followers of the Method
The foremost Method Guy currently would appear to be Jeremy Strong (formerly Day-Lewis’s assistant), whose process while filming Succession was so laboriously intensive that it became the basis of a critical New Yorker profile, full of quotes from individuals who were worried about his conduct (“It’s the cost on himself that worries me,” said Brian Cox) or annoyed beyond all measure by his actions (“I remember [him] making everyone else roll their eyes,” said an unnamed co-star).
Daniel Day-Lewis claims he ‘never intended to retire, really’
There are numerous additional cases. Andrew Garfield went celibate for six months for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio slept in a dead animal for The Revenant. There’s a fighting chance that Austin Butler still speaks in the style of Elvis, years following that film came out. Each of these instances, to some extent, is meant to invoke the dedication in which Day-Lewis approaches his craft.
An Admirable Yet Challenging Fight
Moreover, while his fightback against method detractors might be noble, a brief promotional cycle may prove insufficient to alter perceptions, not to mention their practices. Maybe if he wants to remind people the true essence of the Method, or to show them what it can achieve, then Day-Lewis’s best bet is to just begin producing more films. Certainly we could all support that idea.
