It’s been quite some time since anyone saw or heard from Daniel Day-Lewis. Following his announcement in 2017 declaring he would cease to pursue acting, just before the debut of The Phantom Thread, the actor withdrew from the spotlight. Yet, in his absence, his legend expanded further.
The Legend of His Acting Method
Primarily, this legend centers on his favored style of working. As someone known for immerses himself in his characters – for instance, during Lincoln, reportedly asked Steven Spielberg call him “Mr President” throughout the shoot – the world has grown more fascinated with his process. Did he really send messages to co-star Sally Field as Abraham Lincoln? Was it accurate that he consumed solely animals he’d killed for The Last of the Mohicans? Did he demand receiving food via spoon for My Left Foot?
Madness in their method: have we fallen out of love with over-the-top performances?
Now, Day-Lewis is back to public attention, with some hesitation, for his new film Anemone. He is taking this chance to vocalise his anger regarding how the Method technique is viewed. “I am somewhat annoyed nowadays when I hear various individuals gobbling off and using phrases like ‘fully embraced the Method’, which I think suggests that someone is behaving like a lunatic in a drastic way,” he told a major publication. “People often concentrate on the less important aspects of acting, and those details typically include some form of self-punishment or an experience that causes extreme unease or psychological strain. However, in the life for a performer, it has to principally be about the inner transformation.”
An Industry Full of Followers
To be honest, it appears like the actor has come out from his retreat only to discover aghast at the world that has developed mirroring his methods. If you’re widely considered one of the greatest actors to ever work, and your approach includes striking a prop until you break your nose (in Gangs of New York) or enduring two days in isolation without food or water (for In the Name of the Father), then it stands to reason that fellow performers will want to fill that vacuum by imitating your hero.
Essentially, we exist in an environment full of half-cocked Day-Lewis impersonators who want nothing more than to show the world the sheer amount of dedication they put into their roles. On the milder side of this trend we have people like Lady Gaga, who was so desperate to win an Oscar with House of Gucci that she spent the whole campaign attempting to persuade people that she transformed into functionally Italian over 18 months as preparation.
Then we have Jared Leto, who chose to immerse himself in the character of the Joker (in Suicide Squad) by sending “disturbing” presents to his castmates. These items, according to various accounts, range from deceased animals to intimate objects and used condoms, though the actor refuted those worst excesses. Then, naturally, there is Jim Carrey, who immersed himself so fully into Andy Kaufman during Man on the Moon that filmmakers literally managed in creating a feature-length documentary from behind-the-scenes footage of him causing difficulties as impossible as he could for his colleagues.
The Modern Method Practitioners
The foremost Method Guy currently would appear to be Jeremy Strong (formerly an assistant to Day-Lewis), whose approach during Succession was so rigorously detailed that it formed the subject of a critical magazine feature, full of quotes from people who were worried about his conduct (“It’s the cost to himself concerns me,” said Brian Cox) or extremely irritated by his actions (“I recall [him] making everyone else roll their eyes,” said an unnamed co-star).
Daniel Day-Lewis claims he ‘never intended to stop acting, truly’
We have so many other examples. Andrew Garfield abstained from sex over half a year while preparing for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio rested inside an animal carcass during The Revenant. There’s a fighting chance that Austin Butler still speaks in the style of Elvis, three years after the movie’s release. Each of these instances, in part, is meant to invoke the dedication in which Day-Lewis approaches his craft.
A Noble Yet Challenging Fight
Moreover, although his rebuttal against method detractors might be noble, a short publicity tour may prove insufficient to change anyone’s mind, let alone their behaviour. Perhaps if he wishes to make audiences recall what method acting is, or to demonstrate what it can achieve, then Day-Lewis’s best bet is to simply start making additional movies. Surely everyone would get behind that.
