It has been quite some time since anyone saw or heard from Daniel Day-Lewis. After he statement in 2017 that he would cease to work as an actor, prior to the debut of The Phantom Thread, Day-Lewis withdrew from the spotlight. However, in his absence, his legend expanded further.
The Legend of His Acting Method
Primarily, this reputation revolves around his preferred style of working. Being an actor who famously immerses himself in his characters – for instance, during the Lincoln biopic, he had the director address him as “Mr. President” for the entire production – the world has grown more fascinated with his process. Did he really send texts to Sally Field in character as Lincoln? Did he consumed solely animals he’d killed during Last of the Mohicans? Did he insist on receiving food via spoon while filming My Left Foot?
Madness in their method: has the public fallen out of love with over-the-top performances?
Currently, Daniel Day-Lewis has returned in the limelight, somewhat reluctantly, promoting his latest movie Anemone. And he is using this to vocalise his frustration regarding how method acting is viewed. “I’m a little cross these days when I hear various individuals gobbling off and using phrases like ‘fully embraced the Method’, which seems suggests that someone is acting insane in an extreme fashion,” he stated to the New York Times. “Everyone tends to focus on superficial details of the work, and these elements typically include some sort of self-flagellation or an experience that imposes upon oneself a severe discomfort or mental instability. However, in the life for a performer, it has to principally be about the internal work.”
An Industry of Imitators
Frankly, this sounds like Day-Lewis has come out from his retreat and found himself aghast at the world that has been created mirroring his methods. When you are widely considered among the best actors to ever work, and your approach involves striking a prop to the point of injury (for Gangs of New York) or spending two days in solitary confinement without food or water (for In the Name of the Father), then it stands to reason that other actors will attempt to emulate that example by imitating their idol.
In other words, we now live in an environment full of imperfect imitators of Day-Lewis who want nothing more than to show the world the sheer amount of dedication they invest in their roles. On the milder side of this trend there are performers such as Lady Gaga, who was determined to earn an Academy Award with House of Gucci that she spent the whole campaign attempting to persuade people that she transformed into functionally Italian for a year and a half as preparation.
Additionally, there is Jared Leto, who decided to immerse himself in the character as the Joker (for Suicide Squad) through sending “horrifying” gifts to his castmates. These, according to various accounts, included deceased animals to intimate objects and used condoms, though the actor refuted those worst excesses. Then, naturally, we have Jim Carrey, who immersed himself so fully into Andy Kaufman during Man on the Moon that filmmakers literally managed in creating a full-length documentary out of B-roll of him causing difficulties to the utmost for his colleagues.
Contemporary Followers of the Method
The foremost practitioner of the Method currently would appear to be Jeremy Strong (formerly Day-Lewis’s assistant), whose approach while filming Succession was so laboriously intensive that it formed the basis of a critical magazine feature, full of quotes from individuals who were either concerned about his conduct (“The toll on himself that worries me,” remarked Brian Cox) or annoyed beyond all measure by his actions (“I remember him causing everyone else to react with exasperation,” said an unnamed co-star).
The actor claims he ‘did not plan to retire, really’
We have numerous additional cases. Andrew Garfield abstained from sex over half a year for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio slept in an animal carcass during The Revenant. There’s a fighting chance that actor Austin Butler continues to talk like Elvis Presley, three years after that film came out. Each of these instances, in part, aims to evoke the dedication in which Day-Lewis takes his craft.
An Admirable But Uphill Battle
And, while his fightback 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 wants to make audiences recall what method acting is, or to show them its potential results, then the optimal strategy for Day-Lewis is to just start making more films. Certainly we could all get behind that.
