It’s been quite some time since the public saw or heard from Daniel Day-Lewis. Following his announcement in 2017 declaring he would cease to pursue acting, just before the debut of Phantom Thread, the actor withdrew from the spotlight. However, in his absence, his legend expanded further.
The Legend Surrounding His Acting Method
Largely, this reputation centers on his preferred style of working. As someone known for disappears into his characters – for instance, while filming the Lincoln biopic, reportedly asked the director call him “Mr President” for the entire production – the world has become increasingly obsessed with how he works. Is it true he really send messages to co-star Sally Field as Abraham Lincoln? Did he consumed solely game he hunted during Last of the Mohicans? And did he demand receiving food via spoon while filming My Left Foot?
Madness in their method: has the public fallen out of love with actorly excess?
Currently, Day-Lewis is back to public attention, with some hesitation, for his new film Anemone. And he is taking this chance to vocalise his anger at how method acting is viewed. “I’m a little cross these days to hear various individuals talking carelessly and using phrases like ‘gone full method’, which I think suggests that a person’s acting insane in a drastic way,” he stated to a major publication. “Everyone often concentrate on superficial details of the work, and those details typically include some form of self-flagellation or an experience that imposes upon oneself extreme unease or psychological strain. However, in the life for a performer, it has to principally be about the internal work.”
A World of Imitators
Frankly, this sounds like the actor has emerged from his retreat only to discover aghast at the acting community that has been created in his image. If you’re regarded as among the best performers in history, and your approach includes headbutting a dummy to the point of injury (in Gangs of New York) or spending two days in isolation deprived of sustenance (for In the Name of the Father), it’s natural that fellow performers will attempt to emulate that example by imitating your hero.
Essentially, we now live in a landscape populated by imperfect imitators of Day-Lewis who want nothing more than to show the world the extensive degree of dedication they invest in a character. On the milder side of this trend we have people like Lady Gaga, who was determined to win an Oscar with House of Gucci that she dedicated the entire promotion trying to convince everyone that she became functionally Italian for a year and a half in preparation.
Then we have Jared Leto, who chose to deeply embed himself into the role as the Joker (for Suicide Squad) through sending “horrifying” presents to his castmates. These, depending on who you ask, range from deceased animals to anal beads and used condoms, though Leto denied those worst excesses. And then, of course, we have Jim Carrey, who immersed himself so fully as 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 to the utmost for his colleagues.
Contemporary Method Practitioners
The foremost practitioner of the Method at the moment seems to be Jeremy Strong (once Day-Lewis’s assistant), whose process during Succession was so laboriously intensive that it formed the basis of a derisive New Yorker profile, full of quotes from individuals who were worried for his behaviour (“It’s the cost on himself that worries me,” remarked Brian Cox) or annoyed beyond all measure by it (“I remember [him] making everyone else roll their eyes,” stated an unnamed co-star).
The actor says he ‘did not plan to retire, really’
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. It’s quite possible that actor Austin Butler continues to talk in the style of Elvis, three years after that film came out. Each of these instances, in part, aims to evoke the dedication with which Day-Lewis takes his craft.
A Noble But Uphill Fight
And, although his rebuttal against method detractors could be commendable, a brief promotional cycle may prove insufficient to alter perceptions, not to mention their practices. Perhaps if he wants to make audiences recall what method acting is, or to demonstrate what it can achieve, then the optimal strategy for Day-Lewis is to just begin producing more films. Surely we could all support that idea.
