It has been quite some time since the public saw or heard from the acclaimed actor Daniel Day-Lewis. Following his announcement in 2017 that he would no longer pursue acting, just before the release of The Phantom Thread, the actor quietly faded from view. However, in his absence, his reputation has only grown.
The Legend Surrounding His Acting Method
Largely, this legend revolves around his favored style of working. Being an actor who famously disappears into the roles he plays – for example, during Lincoln, reportedly asked the director call him “Mr. President” for the entire production – audiences has grown more fascinated with how he works. Did he actually sent messages to co-star Sally Field as Abraham Lincoln? Was it accurate that he consumed solely game he hunted for The Last of the Mohicans? And did he demand receiving food via spoon while filming My Left Foot?
Extreme acting methods: have we lost interest with over-the-top performances?
Now, Daniel Day-Lewis has returned to public attention, somewhat reluctantly, for his new film Anemone. And he is taking this chance to express his anger regarding how the Method technique is viewed. “I’m a little cross nowadays when I hear various individuals gobbling off and saying things like ‘fully embraced the Method’, which I think suggests that someone is acting insane in an extreme fashion,” he stated to a major publication. “People often concentrate on superficial aspects of acting, and those details typically include some sort of self-flagellation or an experience that causes extreme unease or psychological strain. However, in the career for a performer, it has to mainly focus on the internal work.”
An Industry Full of Followers
To be honest, this sounds as if Day-Lewis has emerged from his retreat only to discover shocked by the acting community that has been created mirroring his methods. When you are regarded as among the best actors in history, and your approach includes headbutting a dummy to the point of injury (for Gangs of New York) or enduring two days in solitary confinement 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 their idol.
In other words, we exist in an environment populated by half-cocked Day-Lewis impersonators who want nothing more than to demonstrate the sheer amount of dedication they invest in a character. 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 whole campaign attempting to persuade people that she transformed into functionally Italian over 18 months as preparation.
Additionally, there is Jared Leto, who chose to immerse himself into the role of the Joker (in Suicide Squad) by sending “horrifying” presents to fellow cast members. These items, according to various accounts, included deceased animals to intimate objects and used condoms, though the actor refuted the most extreme claims. 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 from behind-the-scenes footage of him making life as impossible as he could for everyone around him.
Contemporary Method Practitioners
The main Method Guy currently would appear to be Jeremy Strong (once an assistant to Day-Lewis), whose process during Succession was so rigorously detailed that it formed the subject of a critical magazine feature, including statements from people who were either concerned about his conduct (“It’s the cost on himself concerns me,” said co-star Brian Cox) or extremely irritated by it (“I remember [him] making everyone else roll their eyes,” said an unnamed co-star).
The actor says he ‘never intended to stop acting, really’
There are so many other examples. Andrew Garfield went celibate for six months while preparing for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio slept in an animal carcass during The Revenant. There’s a fighting chance that actor Austin Butler still speaks like Elvis Presley, three years after the movie’s release. All of this, to some extent, is meant to invoke the seriousness with which Day-Lewis takes his craft.
A Noble But Uphill Battle
Moreover, while his fightback to critics of the Method might be noble, a short publicity tour might not be enough to change anyone’s mind, not to mention their practices. Perhaps if he wants to remind people the true essence of the Method, or to show them its potential results, then Day-Lewis’s best bet is to simply begin producing additional movies. Surely everyone would get behind that.
