It’s been quite some time since the public caught a glimpse of the acclaimed actor Daniel Day-Lewis. Following his announcement in 2017 declaring he would no longer pursue acting, prior to the release of The Phantom Thread, the actor quietly faded from view. However, in his absence, his legend has only grown.
The Legend of His Method
Primarily, this reputation centers on his preferred style of working. Being an actor who famously disappears into 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 grown more fascinated with how he works. Is it true he really send messages to co-star Sally Field as Abraham Lincoln? Did he only eat animals he’d killed for The Last of the Mohicans? Did he insist on being spoon-fed for My Left Foot?
Madness in their method: has the public lost interest with actorly excess?
Currently, Daniel Day-Lewis is back in the limelight, with some hesitation, for his new film Anemone. And he is taking this chance to express his frustration at how method acting is perceived. “I’m a little cross these days when I hear various individuals gobbling off and saying things like ‘gone full method’, which I think is meant to imply that someone is acting insane in a drastic way,” he stated to a major publication. “Everyone often concentrate on the less important aspects of acting, and these elements always seem to involve some sort of self-punishment or an experience that causes a severe discomfort or psychological strain. But of course, in the life of an actor, it must principally be about the inner transformation.”
A World Full of Followers
Frankly, it appears as if the actor has come out from seclusion only to discover shocked by the world that has developed in his image. If you’re regarded as one of the greatest performers in history, and your process involves headbutting a dummy 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 your hero.
In other words, we exist in a landscape populated by half-cocked imitators of Day-Lewis who strive only to demonstrate the extensive degree of effort they put into their roles. At the shallow end of this trend there are performers such as Lady Gaga, who was so desperate to earn an Academy Award for House of Gucci that she spent the whole campaign trying to convince everyone that she became an Italian native for a year and a half in preparation.
Additionally, there is Jared Leto, who chose to immerse himself in the character of the Joker (in Suicide Squad) by sending “disturbing” presents to fellow cast members. These items, depending on who you ask, included deceased animals to anal beads and personal hygiene products, though the actor refuted those worst excesses. Then, of course, there is Jim Carrey, who went so deep as Andy Kaufman during Man on the Moon that filmmakers literally managed to get a feature-length documentary out of B-roll of him making life as impossible as he could for everyone around him.
The Modern Followers of the Method
The main Method Guy at the moment would appear to be Jeremy Strong (once Day-Lewis’s assistant), whose approach while filming Succession was so laboriously intensive that it became the basis of a critical magazine feature, including statements from individuals who were either concerned about his conduct (“The toll to himself concerns me,” said Brian Cox) or extremely irritated by it (“I recall [him] making others roll their eyes,” stated an unnamed co-star).
Daniel Day-Lewis says he ‘never intended to retire, truly’
We have so many other examples. Andrew Garfield abstained from sex over half a year while preparing for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio slept in an animal carcass during The Revenant. There’s a fighting chance that actor Austin Butler continues to talk in the style of Elvis, years following the movie’s release. Each of these instances, in part, is meant to invoke the dedication with which Day-Lewis approaches his work.
An Admirable Yet Challenging Fight
And, although his rebuttal to critics of the Method might be noble, a short publicity tour might not be enough to change anyone’s mind, not to mention their behaviour. Perhaps if he wants to remind people what method acting is, or to demonstrate what it can achieve, then the optimal strategy for Day-Lewis is to just start making more films. Certainly we could all get behind that.
