It has been a long while since the public caught a glimpse of Daniel Day-Lewis. After he announcement in 2017 that he would no longer pursue acting, just before the release of The Phantom Thread, Day-Lewis withdrew from the spotlight. Yet, in his absence, his legend has only grown.
The Legend of His Acting Method
Largely, this reputation centers on his preferred approach to roles. As someone who famously immerses himself in his characters – for instance, while filming the Lincoln biopic, he had the director address him as “Mr. President” throughout the shoot – audiences has become increasingly obsessed with how he works. Did he really send texts to Sally Field in character as Lincoln? Did he consumed solely game he hunted during The Last of the Mohicans? Did he demand being spoon-fed while filming My Left Foot?
Madness in their method: has the public fallen out of love with actorly excess?
Currently, Day-Lewis is back in the limelight, 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 these days when I hear all kinds of people talking carelessly and using phrases like ‘gone full method’, which I think suggests that someone is behaving like a lunatic in an extreme fashion,” he told a major publication. “People often concentrate on superficial details of the work, and those details typically include some sort of self-flagellation or a situation that causes a severe discomfort or psychological strain. But of course, in the career for a performer, it has to principally be about the internal work.”
A World of Imitators
Frankly, this sounds as if Day-Lewis has emerged from his retreat and found himself shocked by the world that has developed in his image. If you’re regarded as among the best actors to ever work, and your approach involves striking a prop 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 other actors will want to fill that vacuum by trying to mimic your hero.
In other words, we now live in a landscape populated by half-cocked Day-Lewis impersonators who want nothing more than to demonstrate the sheer amount of effort they invest in their roles. On the milder side of this trend there are performers such as Lady Gaga, who was so desperate to earn an Academy Award with House of Gucci that she spent the entire promotion attempting to persuade people that she transformed into functionally Italian over 18 months as preparation.
Then we have Jared Leto, who decided to immerse himself in the character of the Joker (in Suicide Squad) by sending “horrifying” presents to his castmates. These items, according to various accounts, range from deceased animals to intimate objects and used condoms, though Leto denied the most extreme claims. Then, of course, we have Jim Carrey, who immersed himself so fully as Andy Kaufman for Man on the Moon that they literally managed to get a feature-length documentary from behind-the-scenes footage of him making life as impossible as he could for his colleagues.
Contemporary Method Practitioners
The main Method Guy currently would appear to be Jeremy Strong (once Day-Lewis’s assistant), whose approach during Succession was so rigorously detailed that it became the subject of a critical magazine feature, including statements from individuals who were either concerned for his behaviour (“The toll on himself that worries me,” said Brian Cox) or annoyed beyond all measure by it (“I recall [him] making everyone else to react with exasperation,” said an unnamed co-star).
The actor says he ‘never intended to retire, truly’
There are numerous additional cases. Andrew Garfield abstained from sex over half a year while preparing for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio rested inside an animal carcass for The Revenant. There’s a fighting chance that Austin Butler continues to talk like Elvis Presley, three years after that film came out. Each of these instances, in part, is meant to invoke the seriousness with which Day-Lewis takes his work.
A Noble Yet Challenging Fight
Moreover, while his fightback to critics of the Method could be commendable, a brief promotional cycle might not be enough to alter perceptions, let alone their behaviour. Perhaps if he wishes to remind people what method acting is, or to show them its potential results, then the optimal strategy for Day-Lewis is to simply start making more films. Surely everyone would get behind that.
