It’s been a long while 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 release of The Phantom Thread, the actor withdrew from the spotlight. Yet, during his hiatus, his reputation has only grown.
The Legend Surrounding His Method
Largely, this legend revolves around his preferred style of working. As someone who famously disappears into the roles he plays – for example, while filming the Lincoln biopic, reportedly asked Steven Spielberg call him “Mr. President” throughout the shoot – the world has grown more fascinated with his process. Is it true he actually sent messages to co-star Sally Field in character as Lincoln? Was it accurate that he consumed solely animals he’d killed for Last of the Mohicans? And did he demand being spoon-fed for 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, promoting his latest movie Anemone. And he is taking this chance to vocalise his anger at how method acting is viewed. “I’m a little cross these days when I hear all kinds of people talking carelessly and using phrases like ‘fully embraced the Method’, which seems is meant to imply that a person’s behaving like a lunatic in an extreme fashion,” he stated to a major publication. “People tends to focus on the less important aspects of acting, and those details always seem to involve some sort of self-flagellation or an experience that causes a severe discomfort or psychological strain. However, in the career of an actor, it must mainly focus on the inner transformation.”
A World Full of Followers
To be honest, it appears like the actor has come out from his retreat and found himself shocked by the world that has developed in his image. If you’re regarded as one of the greatest actors in history, and your process includes headbutting a dummy until you break your nose (for Gangs of New York) or spending two days in isolation deprived of sustenance (for In the Name of the Father), then it stands to reason that other actors will want to emulate that example by trying to mimic your hero.
In other words, we now live in a landscape full of imperfect Day-Lewis impersonators who want nothing more than to show the world the extensive degree of effort they put into their roles. At the shallow end of the pool there are performers such as Lady Gaga, who was determined to win an Oscar with House of Gucci that she dedicated the entire promotion attempting to persuade people that she became an Italian native for a year and a half in preparation.
Then we have Jared Leto, who chose to immerse himself in the character of the Joker (in Suicide Squad) through sending “horrifying” gifts to his castmates. These items, according to various accounts, included deceased animals to intimate objects and used condoms, although the actor refuted those worst excesses. Then, of course, we have Jim Carrey, who went so deep into Andy Kaufman during Man on the Moon that they succeeded to get a full-length documentary from behind-the-scenes footage of him causing difficulties to the utmost for his colleagues.
Contemporary Followers of the Method
The foremost practitioner of the Method at the moment would appear to be Jeremy Strong (formerly an assistant to Day-Lewis), whose approach while filming Succession was so rigorously detailed that it formed the basis of a derisive New Yorker profile, including statements from individuals who were either concerned for his behaviour (“The toll to himself concerns me,” said co-star Brian Cox) or extremely irritated by it (“I recall him causing others to react with exasperation,” stated an unnamed co-star).
Daniel Day-Lewis claims he ‘never intended to stop acting, truly’
There are numerous additional cases. Andrew Garfield abstained from sex over half a year for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio slept in a dead animal for The Revenant. There’s a fighting chance that actor Austin Butler still speaks like Elvis Presley, years following the movie’s release. All of this, in part, is meant to invoke the dedication with which Day-Lewis takes his work.
An Admirable Yet Challenging Battle
Moreover, while his fightback against method detractors could be commendable, a short publicity tour may prove insufficient to alter perceptions, not to mention their behaviour. Maybe if he wants to remind people the true essence of the Method, or to demonstrate its potential results, then Day-Lewis’s best bet is to just start making additional movies. Certainly we could all get behind that.
