It’s been quite some time since anyone caught a glimpse of the acclaimed actor Daniel Day-Lewis. After he announcement in 2017 declaring he would no longer pursue acting, just before the release of Phantom Thread, Day-Lewis quietly faded from view. However, in his absence, his legend expanded further.
The Legend of His Acting Method
Largely, this legend centers on his preferred style of working. As someone known for disappears into the roles he plays – for instance, during Lincoln, reportedly asked Steven Spielberg address him as “Mr President” for the entire production – audiences has grown more fascinated with how he works. Is it true he really send texts to Sally Field in character as Lincoln? Was it accurate that he consumed solely animals he’d killed for Last of the Mohicans? Did he demand receiving food via spoon for My Left Foot?
Madness in their method: have we lost interest with over-the-top performances?
Now, Day-Lewis has returned to public attention, with some hesitation, for his new film Anemone. And he is using this to vocalise his frustration regarding how method acting is perceived. “I’m a little cross nowadays when I hear all kinds of people gobbling off and using phrases like ‘gone full method’, which seems is meant to imply that a person’s acting insane in an extreme fashion,” he stated to the New York Times. “People tends to focus on the less important aspects of acting, and these elements typically include some sort of self-punishment or a situation that imposes upon oneself extreme unease or psychological strain. But of course, in the life of an actor, it must mainly focus on the inner transformation.”
A World of Imitators
To be honest, it appears like Day-Lewis has come out from seclusion and found himself shocked by the world that has been created in his image. If you’re widely considered among the best performers to ever work, and your process includes headbutting a dummy to the point of injury (in Gangs of New York) or spending 48 hours in isolation without food or water (for In the Name of the Father), it’s natural that other actors will attempt to emulate that example by imitating your hero.
In other words, we exist in an environment full of imperfect Day-Lewis impersonators who want nothing more than to demonstrate the extensive degree of effort they put into a character. 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 functionally Italian over 18 months in preparation.
Then we have Jared Leto, who decided to deeply embed himself in the character of the Joker (in Suicide Squad) by sending “horrifying” gifts to his castmates. These items, according to various accounts, range from deceased animals to anal beads and used condoms, though the actor refuted the most extreme claims. Then, of course, there is Jim Carrey, who went so deep into Andy Kaufman for Man on the Moon that filmmakers succeeded to get a full-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 foremost Method Guy at the moment would appear to be Jeremy Strong (formerly an assistant to Day-Lewis), whose approach while filming Succession was so laboriously intensive that it became the basis of a critical magazine feature, full of quotes from people who were either concerned about his conduct (“It’s the cost to himself concerns me,” remarked co-star Brian Cox) or extremely irritated by it (“I recall him causing everyone else to react with exasperation,” stated an unnamed co-star).
Daniel Day-Lewis claims he ‘did not plan to retire, really’
There are so many other examples. Andrew Garfield went celibate over half a year while preparing for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio rested inside a dead animal during The Revenant. There’s a fighting chance that actor Austin Butler still speaks in the style of Elvis, three years after the movie’s release. Each of these instances, to some extent, aims to evoke the dedication with which Day-Lewis takes his work.
An Admirable But Uphill Fight
Moreover, while his fightback against method detractors might be noble, a short publicity tour might not be enough to alter perceptions, let alone their practices. Perhaps if he wants to make audiences recall the true essence of the Method, or to demonstrate what it can achieve, then Day-Lewis’s best bet is to just begin producing more films. Surely everyone would get behind that.
