It has been quite some time since anyone saw or heard from Daniel Day-Lewis. After he announcement in 2017 declaring he would cease to pursue acting, just before the debut of The Phantom Thread, the actor withdrew from the spotlight. Yet, in his absence, his legend has only grown.
The Legend of His Acting Method
Primarily, this legend revolves around his preferred approach to roles. As someone known for immerses himself in the roles he plays – for instance, during Lincoln, reportedly asked Steven Spielberg call him “Mr President” throughout the shoot – audiences has grown more fascinated with how he works. Did he actually sent texts to Sally Field in character as Lincoln? Did he only eat animals he’d killed during Last of the Mohicans? Did he insist on receiving food via spoon while filming My Left Foot?
Extreme acting methods: have we fallen out of love with over-the-top performances?
Currently, Day-Lewis is back in the limelight, somewhat reluctantly, promoting his latest movie Anemone. And he is using this to express his anger regarding how the Method technique is viewed. “I’m a little cross these days to hear all kinds of people talking carelessly and using phrases like ‘fully embraced the Method’, which I think is meant to imply that someone is acting insane in a drastic way,” he stated to the New York Times. “Everyone often concentrate on superficial details of the work, and those details always seem to involve some sort of self-flagellation or an experience that causes extreme unease or psychological strain. However, in the career of an actor, it must principally be about the internal work.”
An Industry Full of Followers
To be honest, it appears like Day-Lewis has emerged from his retreat and found himself shocked by the acting community that has developed mirroring his methods. If you’re regarded as among the best performers in history, and your process includes striking a prop to the point of injury (for Gangs of New York) or spending 48 hours in isolation without food or water (for In the Name of the Father), it’s natural that other actors will attempt to fill that vacuum by imitating your hero.
In other words, we exist in a landscape full of imperfect imitators of Day-Lewis who want nothing more than to show the world the sheer amount of dedication they put into their roles. On the milder side of the pool we have people like Lady Gaga, who was determined to win an Oscar with House of Gucci that she dedicated the whole campaign trying to convince everyone that she transformed into an Italian native over 18 months as preparation.
Additionally, there is Jared Leto, who chose to deeply embed himself in the character as the Joker (for Suicide Squad) through sending “disturbing” presents to fellow cast members. These items, according to various accounts, included deceased animals to intimate objects and used condoms, although the actor refuted the most extreme claims. Then, naturally, we have Jim Carrey, who immersed himself so fully as Andy Kaufman for 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 his colleagues.
The Modern Followers of the Method
The foremost Method Guy currently would appear to be Jeremy Strong (once Day-Lewis’s assistant), whose process during Succession was so laboriously intensive that it became the subject of a critical New Yorker profile, including statements from individuals who were worried about his conduct (“It’s the cost on himself that worries me,” said Brian Cox) or extremely irritated by it (“I recall him causing everyone else to react with exasperation,” said an anonymous cast member).
Daniel Day-Lewis says he ‘did not plan to stop acting, truly’
We have so many other examples. Andrew Garfield abstained from sex over half a year for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio rested inside an animal carcass during The Revenant. It’s quite possible that actor Austin Butler still speaks like Elvis Presley, years following that film came out. Each of these instances, in part, is meant to invoke the seriousness in which Day-Lewis approaches his craft.
A Noble But Uphill Fight
And, while his fightback to critics of the Method might be noble, a brief promotional cycle may prove insufficient to alter perceptions, not to mention their practices. Perhaps if he wishes 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 begin producing more films. Surely everyone would support that idea.
