It’s been quite some time since anyone saw or heard from the acclaimed actor Daniel Day-Lewis. After he announcement in 2017 declaring he would no longer pursue acting, prior to the debut of Phantom Thread, Day-Lewis quietly faded from view. However, during his hiatus, his reputation has only grown.
The Mythos of His Acting Method
Primarily, this reputation revolves around his favored approach to roles. As someone known for disappears into his characters – for example, during the Lincoln biopic, reportedly asked the director call him “Mr President” throughout the shoot – audiences has grown increasingly obsessed with how he works. Is it true he actually sent texts to Sally Field in character as Lincoln? Did he consumed solely game he hunted during Last of the Mohicans? And did he demand being spoon-fed for My Left Foot?
Madness in their method: have we fallen out of love with actorly excess?
Now, Day-Lewis has returned to public attention, somewhat reluctantly, for his new film Anemone. And he is taking this chance to vocalise his anger regarding how method acting is viewed. “I’m a little cross these days to hear various individuals gobbling off and using phrases like ‘fully embraced the Method’, which seems suggests that a person’s acting insane in an extreme fashion,” he stated to a major publication. “Everyone tends to focus on superficial aspects of acting, and those details always seem to involve some sort of self-punishment or a situation that causes a severe discomfort or mental instability. However, in the life for a performer, it has to mainly focus on the inner transformation.”
A World Full of Followers
Frankly, it appears like the actor has emerged from seclusion only to discover shocked by the world that has developed in his image. When you are regarded as one of the greatest actors to ever work, and your process includes striking a prop until you break your nose (for Gangs of New York) or spending 48 hours in solitary confinement without food or water (during 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.
In other words, we now live in a landscape full of imperfect Day-Lewis impersonators who strive only to show the world the extensive degree of dedication they put into their roles. On the milder side of the pool there are performers such as Lady Gaga, who was so desperate to win an Oscar with House of Gucci that she dedicated the entire promotion trying to convince everyone that she transformed into an Italian native for a year and a half in preparation.
Additionally, there is Jared Leto, who decided to immerse himself into the role as the Joker (for Suicide Squad) by sending “horrifying” presents to his castmates. These items, according to various accounts, included deceased animals to intimate objects and personal hygiene products, although Leto denied those worst excesses. And then, of course, we have Jim Carrey, who immersed himself so fully as Andy Kaufman during Man on the Moon that they succeeded in creating a feature-length documentary from behind-the-scenes footage of him making life to the utmost for everyone around him.
The Modern Method Practitioners
The foremost practitioner of the Method at the moment seems to be Jeremy Strong (once Day-Lewis’s assistant), whose approach while filming Succession was so laboriously intensive that it became the basis of a derisive magazine feature, full of quotes from individuals who were worried for his behaviour (“It’s the cost to himself that worries me,” remarked co-star Brian Cox) or extremely irritated by it (“I recall [him] making everyone else roll their eyes,” stated an anonymous cast member).
Daniel Day-Lewis claims he ‘never intended to stop acting, really’
We have so many other examples. Andrew Garfield abstained from sex for six months for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio slept in an animal carcass for The Revenant. There’s a fighting chance that Austin Butler continues to talk in the style of Elvis, three years after the movie’s release. Each of these instances, to some extent, aims to evoke the seriousness with which Day-Lewis approaches his craft.
A Noble Yet Challenging Fight
And, while his fightback against method detractors could be commendable, a brief promotional cycle may prove insufficient to alter perceptions, let alone their behaviour. Perhaps if he wants to remind people what method acting is, or to show them its potential results, then Day-Lewis’s best bet is to just start making additional movies. Certainly everyone would get behind that.
