It’s been a long while since the public saw or heard from the acclaimed actor Daniel Day-Lewis. Following his statement in 2017 that he would cease to pursue acting, prior to the debut of The Phantom Thread, the actor quietly faded from view. However, during his hiatus, his legend has only grown.
The Mythos of His Acting Method
Primarily, this reputation revolves around his favored approach to roles. Being an actor who famously disappears into the roles he plays – for instance, while filming Lincoln, reportedly asked the director address him as “Mr. President” throughout the shoot – the world has become increasingly obsessed with how he works. Did he actually sent texts to Sally Field as Abraham Lincoln? Did he only eat game he hunted during Last of the Mohicans? And did he demand being spoon-fed while filming My Left Foot?
Madness in their method: have we fallen out of love with actorly excess?
Currently, Day-Lewis is back to public attention, with some hesitation, promoting his latest movie Anemone. He is using this to express his anger at how the Method technique is perceived. “I am somewhat annoyed nowadays when I hear various individuals talking carelessly and using phrases like ‘fully embraced the Method’, which seems suggests that someone is behaving like a lunatic in a drastic way,” he told the New York Times. “Everyone often concentrate on superficial aspects of acting, and those details typically include some sort of self-flagellation or an experience that imposes upon oneself extreme unease or psychological strain. But of course, in the career for a performer, it has to mainly focus on the inner transformation.”
A World of Imitators
Frankly, this sounds like the actor has come out from seclusion and found himself shocked by the world that has developed in his image. If you’re widely considered among the best actors to ever work, and your approach involves headbutting a dummy to the point of injury (in 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 fellow performers will want to emulate that example by trying to mimic their idol.
Essentially, we now live in an environment populated by half-cocked imitators of Day-Lewis who want nothing more than to show the world the sheer amount of dedication they put into their roles. On the milder side of the pool we have people like Lady Gaga, who was so desperate to earn an Academy Award with House of Gucci that she spent the whole campaign trying to convince everyone that she transformed into functionally Italian over 18 months in preparation.
Additionally, there is Jared Leto, who chose to immerse himself in the character as the Joker (in Suicide Squad) by sending “horrifying” gifts to fellow cast members. These, according to various accounts, range from dead pigs and rats to intimate objects and used condoms, although the actor refuted those worst excesses. Then, naturally, we have Jim Carrey, who went so deep as Andy Kaufman for Man on the Moon that filmmakers succeeded 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 main practitioner of the Method currently seems to be Jeremy Strong (once Day-Lewis’s assistant), whose approach during Succession was so rigorously detailed that it formed the basis of a derisive magazine feature, including statements from individuals who were either concerned for his behaviour (“It’s the cost on himself concerns me,” said co-star Brian Cox) or extremely irritated by his actions (“I recall him causing others to react with exasperation,” stated an anonymous cast member).
Daniel Day-Lewis says he ‘never intended to stop acting, really’
There are numerous additional cases. Andrew Garfield went celibate over half a year while preparing for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio rested inside a dead animal for The Revenant. There’s a fighting chance that actor Austin Butler continues to talk in the style of Elvis, three years after the movie’s release. All of this, to some extent, is meant to invoke the seriousness with which Day-Lewis approaches his craft.
A Noble But Uphill Fight
Moreover, although his rebuttal against method detractors might be noble, a short publicity tour may prove insufficient to alter perceptions, not to mention their practices. Maybe if he wishes 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 simply begin producing additional movies. Certainly everyone would get behind that.
