It’s been a long while since anyone saw or heard from Daniel Day-Lewis. After he announcement in 2017 declaring he would cease to pursue acting, prior to the release of The Phantom Thread, the actor quietly faded from view. Yet, in his absence, his reputation expanded further.
The Legend of His Acting Method
Largely, this reputation revolves around his preferred approach to roles. Being an actor known for disappears into his characters – for example, during Lincoln, he had Steven Spielberg address him as “Mr. President” for the entire production – audiences has become increasingly obsessed with how he works. Did he really send texts to Sally Field in character as Lincoln? Did he only eat game he hunted for Last of the Mohicans? And did he insist on being spoon-fed while filming My Left Foot?
Extreme acting methods: has the public lost interest with actorly excess?
Currently, Daniel Day-Lewis has returned to public attention, somewhat reluctantly, for his new film Anemone. And he is taking this chance to vocalise his frustration at how method acting is perceived. “I’m a little cross nowadays to hear all kinds of people gobbling off and using phrases like ‘gone full method’, which I think suggests that a person’s acting insane in an extreme fashion,” he told the New York Times. “People tends to focus on superficial aspects of acting, and these elements always seem to involve some sort of self-flagellation or a situation that imposes upon oneself extreme unease or psychological strain. But of course, in the career of an actor, it has to principally be about the inner transformation.”
An Industry of Imitators
To be honest, it appears as if Day-Lewis has emerged from seclusion and found himself shocked by the world that has been created in his image. When you are regarded as one of the greatest performers in history, and your approach involves striking a prop until you break your nose (in Gangs of New York) or enduring 48 hours in solitary confinement deprived of sustenance (during In the Name of the Father), then it stands to reason that other actors will want to emulate that example by imitating your hero.
Essentially, we exist in an environment populated by half-cocked imitators of Day-Lewis who want nothing more than to demonstrate the extensive degree of dedication they put into their roles. At the shallow end of the pool there are performers such as Lady Gaga, who was determined 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 for a year and a half in preparation.
Then we have Jared Leto, who chose to immerse himself in the character of the Joker (in Suicide Squad) by sending “horrifying” gifts to his castmates. These items, according to various accounts, range from dead pigs and rats to anal beads and personal hygiene products, though the actor refuted the most extreme claims. Then, of course, we have Jim Carrey, who immersed himself so fully into 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 to the utmost for his colleagues.
The Modern Followers of the Method
The main practitioner of the Method currently seems to be Jeremy Strong (once Day-Lewis’s assistant), whose approach during Succession was so laboriously intensive that it became the subject of a critical New Yorker profile, full of quotes from individuals who were either concerned for his behaviour (“It’s the cost on himself that worries me,” remarked co-star Brian Cox) or annoyed beyond all measure by his actions (“I remember [him] making others roll their eyes,” said an unnamed co-star).
Daniel Day-Lewis claims he ‘never intended to retire, truly’
We have numerous additional cases. Andrew Garfield abstained from sex over half a year for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio slept in an animal carcass for The Revenant. There’s a fighting chance that Austin Butler still speaks in the style of Elvis, years following the movie’s release. All of this, in part, is meant to invoke the seriousness in which Day-Lewis approaches his work.
A Noble But Uphill Fight
Moreover, although his rebuttal to critics of the Method might be noble, a short publicity tour may prove insufficient to alter perceptions, let alone their behaviour. Maybe if he wants to make audiences recall the true essence of the Method, or to demonstrate what it can achieve, then the optimal strategy for Day-Lewis is to simply start making more films. Surely everyone would get behind that.
