It’s been quite some time since anyone saw or heard from Daniel Day-Lewis. After he announcement in 2017 that he would cease to work as an actor, just before the debut of Phantom Thread, Day-Lewis quietly faded from view. However, during his hiatus, his legend expanded further.
The Legend of His Method
Primarily, this reputation revolves around his favored style of working. Being an actor known for disappears into the roles he plays – for example, during the Lincoln biopic, reportedly asked the director call him “Mr. President” throughout the shoot – audiences has become more fascinated with his process. Did he actually sent texts to Sally Field in character as Lincoln? Did he consumed solely animals he’d killed for Last of the Mohicans? And did he insist on receiving food via spoon while filming My Left Foot?
Madness in their method: have we lost interest with actorly excess?
Now, Day-Lewis is back to public attention, with some hesitation, for his new film Anemone. And he is using this to vocalise his frustration at how the Method technique is viewed. “I am somewhat annoyed these days to hear various individuals gobbling off and using phrases like ‘fully embraced the Method’, which seems suggests that someone is behaving like a lunatic in a drastic way,” he stated to a major publication. “People tends to focus on superficial details of the work, and those details 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 of an actor, it must principally be about the inner transformation.”
A World of Imitators
Frankly, it appears as if Day-Lewis has come out from seclusion and found himself aghast at the acting community that has developed in his image. If you’re widely considered one of the greatest actors in history, and your approach includes headbutting a dummy until you break your nose (for Gangs of New York) or spending two days in isolation without food or water (during In the Name of the Father), then it stands to reason that other actors will attempt to emulate that example by imitating their idol.
In other words, we exist in a landscape full of imperfect imitators of Day-Lewis who strive only to show the world the extensive degree of effort they put into their roles. On the milder side of the pool there are performers such as Lady Gaga, who was determined to earn an Academy Award with House of Gucci that she dedicated the whole campaign attempting to persuade people that she transformed into functionally Italian for a year and a half in preparation.
Then we have Jared Leto, who decided to immerse himself in the character of the Joker (in Suicide Squad) by sending “disturbing” gifts to his castmates. These items, depending on who you ask, included deceased animals to intimate objects and used condoms, though Leto denied the most extreme claims. And then, of course, there is Jim Carrey, who went so deep as Andy Kaufman during Man on the Moon that filmmakers succeeded in creating a feature-length documentary out of B-roll of him making life to the utmost for his colleagues.
Contemporary Method Practitioners
The main Method Guy currently seems 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 (“It’s the cost on himself concerns me,” said Brian Cox) or extremely irritated by his actions (“I remember him causing everyone else roll their eyes,” said an anonymous cast member).
Daniel Day-Lewis says he ‘did not plan to stop acting, really’
We have numerous additional cases. Andrew Garfield went celibate over half a year while preparing for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio slept in an animal carcass for The Revenant. There’s a fighting chance that actor Austin Butler still speaks like Elvis Presley, years following that film came out. Each of these instances, to some extent, aims to evoke the seriousness with which Day-Lewis approaches his work.
A Noble Yet Challenging Fight
And, although his rebuttal against method detractors could be commendable, a short publicity tour might not be enough to alter perceptions, not to mention their practices. Perhaps if he wishes to make audiences recall what method acting is, or to show them its potential results, then Day-Lewis’s best bet is to just begin producing more films. Certainly everyone would support that idea.
