It has been a long while since the public saw or heard from the acclaimed actor Daniel Day-Lewis. Following his announcement in 2017 declaring he would cease to pursue acting, just before the release of The Phantom Thread, Day-Lewis withdrew from the spotlight. Yet, during his hiatus, his legend has only grown.
The Legend of His Acting Method
Primarily, this legend centers on his preferred style of working. Being an actor known for disappears into the roles he plays – for example, during Lincoln, he had the director call him “Mr. President” for the entire production – audiences has become more fascinated with how he works. Is it true he actually sent messages to co-star Sally Field as Abraham Lincoln? Did he consumed solely animals he’d killed during Last of the Mohicans? And did he insist on being spoon-fed for My Left Foot?
Extreme acting methods: has the public lost interest with over-the-top performances?
Now, Day-Lewis is back to public attention, somewhat reluctantly, promoting his latest movie Anemone. And he is using this to express his anger at how method acting is perceived. “I am somewhat annoyed these days when I hear all kinds of people gobbling off and saying things like ‘gone full method’, which I think suggests that someone is acting insane in a drastic way,” he stated to a major publication. “Everyone often concentrate on superficial aspects of acting, and those details typically include some sort of self-punishment or an experience that causes extreme unease or mental instability. But of course, in the career of an actor, it must mainly focus on the inner transformation.”
A World Full of Followers
Frankly, this sounds like the actor has come out from his retreat and found himself shocked by the acting community that has developed in his image. When you are widely considered among the best performers to ever work, and your approach involves striking a prop until you break your nose (for Gangs of New York) or spending two days in solitary confinement deprived of sustenance (for In the Name of the Father), it’s natural that fellow performers will attempt to fill that vacuum by trying to mimic their idol.
Essentially, we exist in an environment full of imperfect imitators of Day-Lewis who strive only to demonstrate the extensive degree of dedication they put into their roles. On the milder side of the pool we have people like Lady Gaga, who was so desperate to win an Oscar for House of Gucci that she spent the entire promotion attempting to persuade people that she became functionally Italian over 18 months as preparation.
Additionally, there is Jared Leto, who chose to deeply embed himself into the role of the Joker (for Suicide Squad) through sending “horrifying” presents to fellow cast members. These, according to various accounts, range from deceased animals to anal beads and used condoms, though the actor refuted the most extreme claims. Then, of course, we have Jim Carrey, who immersed himself so fully as Andy Kaufman during Man on the Moon that they literally managed to get a feature-length documentary from behind-the-scenes footage of him making life as impossible as he could for his colleagues.
The Modern Method Practitioners
The foremost practitioner of the Method at the moment seems to be Jeremy Strong (formerly an assistant to Day-Lewis), whose approach during Succession was so rigorously detailed that it formed the basis of a derisive New Yorker profile, including statements from individuals who were worried about his conduct (“The toll on himself that worries me,” remarked co-star Brian Cox) or extremely irritated by his actions (“I remember [him] making everyone else to react with exasperation,” stated an unnamed co-star).
The actor claims he ‘did not plan to retire, really’
We have so many other examples. Andrew Garfield went celibate over half a year for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio slept in a dead animal during The Revenant. It’s quite possible that actor Austin Butler continues to talk in the style of Elvis, years following that film came out. All of this, to some extent, aims to evoke the seriousness with which Day-Lewis approaches his craft.
An Admirable But Uphill Fight
And, although his rebuttal to critics of the Method could be commendable, a brief promotional cycle might not be enough to change anyone’s mind, not to mention their behaviour. Maybe if he wants to remind people what method acting is, or to show them what it can achieve, then Day-Lewis’s best bet is to simply start making additional movies. Surely everyone would get behind that.