It has been a long while since anyone caught a glimpse of the acclaimed actor Daniel Day-Lewis. Following his announcement in 2017 that he would cease to pursue acting, just before the release of The Phantom Thread, the actor quietly faded from view. However, in his absence, his reputation has only grown.
The Legend Surrounding His Acting Method
Largely, this reputation centers on his favored style of working. Being an actor known for immerses himself in the roles he plays – for instance, while filming the Lincoln biopic, he had Steven Spielberg call him “Mr. President” throughout the shoot – the world has grown increasingly obsessed with how he works. Did he really send messages to co-star Sally Field in character as Lincoln? Did he only eat animals he’d killed during The Last of the Mohicans? Did he insist on receiving food via spoon for My Left Foot?
Madness in their method: has the public lost interest with over-the-top performances?
Now, Day-Lewis is back to public attention, somewhat reluctantly, for his new film Anemone. He is taking this chance to express his frustration regarding how method acting is perceived. “I am somewhat annoyed these days when I hear all kinds of people talking carelessly and saying things like ‘fully embraced the Method’, which I think is meant to imply that a person’s acting insane in an extreme fashion,” he told a major publication. “Everyone often concentrate on the less important aspects of acting, and these elements always seem to involve some form of self-punishment or a situation that imposes upon oneself a severe discomfort or psychological strain. However, in the life for a performer, it has to mainly focus on the inner transformation.”
An Industry Full of Followers
Frankly, it appears as if Day-Lewis has emerged from seclusion only to discover shocked by the world that has been created mirroring his methods. When you are regarded as among the best actors in history, and your approach involves headbutting a dummy to the point of injury (for Gangs of New York) or enduring two days in solitary confinement deprived of sustenance (for In the Name of the Father), then it stands to reason that fellow performers will attempt to fill that vacuum by imitating your hero.
Essentially, we now live in a landscape full of half-cocked imitators of Day-Lewis who strive only to show the world the sheer amount of dedication 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 attempting to persuade people that she transformed into functionally Italian over 18 months in preparation.
Additionally, there is Jared Leto, who chose to immerse himself into the role as the Joker (for Suicide Squad) through sending “disturbing” gifts to his castmates. These items, according to various accounts, included dead pigs and rats to intimate objects 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 they literally managed in creating a feature-length documentary out of B-roll of him making life as impossible as he could for his colleagues.
Contemporary Followers of the Method
The foremost Method Guy at the moment would appear to be Jeremy Strong (formerly Day-Lewis’s assistant), whose process while filming Succession was so laboriously intensive that it formed the subject of a derisive magazine feature, including statements from individuals who were either concerned about his conduct (“The toll on himself concerns me,” remarked co-star Brian Cox) or extremely irritated by his actions (“I remember [him] making everyone else to react with exasperation,” said an anonymous cast member).
The actor claims he ‘never intended to retire, truly’
There are so many other examples. Andrew Garfield went celibate for six months for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio slept in an animal carcass for The Revenant. There’s a fighting chance that actor Austin Butler still speaks in the style of Elvis, three years after that film came out. All of this, to some extent, aims to evoke the seriousness with which Day-Lewis approaches his work.
An Admirable Yet Challenging Fight
And, while his fightback to critics of the Method could be commendable, a short publicity tour might not be enough to change anyone’s mind, let alone their practices. Perhaps if he wishes to remind people the true essence of the Method, or to show them its potential results, then Day-Lewis’s best bet is to just start making more films. Certainly we could all get behind that.
