It’s been quite some time since the public caught a glimpse of the acclaimed actor Daniel Day-Lewis. Following his statement in 2017 declaring he would cease to pursue acting, prior to the release of The Phantom Thread, Day-Lewis quietly faded from view. Yet, during his hiatus, his legend expanded further.
The Mythos of His Method
Primarily, this legend centers on his preferred style of working. Being an actor who famously immerses himself in the roles he plays – for instance, while filming the Lincoln biopic, reportedly asked the director call him “Mr. President” for the entire production – audiences has become more fascinated with how he works. Did he really send messages to co-star Sally Field as Abraham Lincoln? Was it accurate that he consumed solely animals he’d killed during Last of the Mohicans? And did he demand being spoon-fed for My Left Foot?
Extreme acting methods: has the public fallen out of love with actorly excess?
Now, Daniel Day-Lewis is back in the limelight, somewhat reluctantly, promoting his latest movie Anemone. And he is taking this chance to vocalise his frustration at how method acting is viewed. “I am somewhat annoyed nowadays to hear all kinds of people talking carelessly and using phrases like ‘gone full method’, which seems suggests that a person’s acting insane in a drastic way,” he stated to the New York Times. “People often concentrate on the less important details of the work, and those details typically include some sort of self-punishment or a situation that imposes upon oneself a severe discomfort or psychological strain. But of course, in the life of an actor, it has to principally be about the inner transformation.”
An Industry of Imitators
To be honest, it appears like Day-Lewis has come out from his retreat and found himself aghast at the acting community that has developed in his image. When you are regarded as among the best actors to ever work, and your process includes headbutting a dummy to the point of injury (in Gangs of New York) or enduring 48 hours in isolation without food or water (during In the Name of the Father), then it stands to reason that other actors will attempt to fill that vacuum by imitating your hero.
Essentially, we now live in an environment full of half-cocked Day-Lewis impersonators who strive only to show the world the sheer amount of effort they invest in a character. At the shallow end of the pool we have people like Lady Gaga, who was so desperate to earn an Academy Award with House of Gucci that she spent the entire promotion attempting to persuade people that she transformed into an Italian native over 18 months in preparation.
Then we have 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, depending on who you ask, included deceased animals to intimate objects and used condoms, although the actor refuted those worst excesses. And then, naturally, we have Jim Carrey, who immersed himself so fully into Andy Kaufman during Man on the Moon that they succeeded to get a feature-length documentary from behind-the-scenes footage of him causing difficulties as impossible as he could for everyone around him.
The Modern Method Practitioners
The foremost Method Guy currently would appear to be Jeremy Strong (once an assistant to Day-Lewis), whose approach while filming Succession was so laboriously intensive 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 to himself concerns me,” remarked Brian Cox) or annoyed beyond all measure by his actions (“I recall him causing everyone else to react with exasperation,” stated an unnamed co-star).
The actor claims he ‘never intended to retire, truly’
We have so many other examples. Andrew Garfield went celibate over half a year while preparing for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio slept in an animal carcass during The Revenant. It’s quite possible that actor Austin Butler still speaks in the style of Elvis, years following the movie’s release. All of this, in part, aims to evoke the dedication with which Day-Lewis takes his craft.
A Noble But Uphill Fight
Moreover, although his rebuttal against method detractors might be noble, a brief promotional cycle might not be enough to change anyone’s mind, let alone their practices. Perhaps if he wants to remind people the true essence of the Method, or to show them its potential results, then the optimal strategy for Day-Lewis is to just begin producing more films. Surely everyone would support that idea.
