It’s been a long while since the public caught a glimpse of Daniel Day-Lewis. Following his announcement in 2017 declaring he would no longer work as an actor, prior to the release of The Phantom Thread, the actor quietly faded from view. However, in his absence, his legend expanded further.
The Legend Surrounding His Acting Method
Primarily, this reputation centers on his favored style of working. Being an actor known for disappears into his characters – for example, during the Lincoln biopic, he had the director call him “Mr President” throughout the shoot – the world has grown more fascinated with his process. Did he really send messages to co-star Sally Field as Abraham Lincoln? Did he consumed solely animals he’d killed during Last of the Mohicans? Did he insist on being spoon-fed while filming My Left Foot?
Madness in their method: has the public lost interest with over-the-top performances?
Currently, 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 the Method technique is perceived. “I am somewhat annoyed nowadays when I hear various individuals talking carelessly and using phrases like ‘fully embraced the Method’, which I think is meant to imply that someone is behaving like a lunatic in an extreme fashion,” he stated to a major publication. “Everyone tends to focus on superficial details of the work, and those details typically include some form of self-punishment or a situation that imposes upon oneself extreme unease or psychological strain. However, in the career for a performer, it has to mainly focus on the inner transformation.”
An Industry Full of Followers
Frankly, it appears like the actor has come out from seclusion and found himself aghast at the acting community that has been created in his image. If you’re regarded as among the best performers 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 deprived of sustenance (for In the Name of the Father), it’s natural that fellow performers will attempt to fill that vacuum by trying to mimic your hero.
In other words, we exist in a landscape full of imperfect Day-Lewis impersonators who want nothing more than to show the world the sheer amount of dedication they invest in a character. 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 trying to convince everyone that she became functionally Italian for a year and a half as preparation.
Then we have Jared Leto, who chose to deeply embed himself in the character as the Joker (in Suicide Squad) by sending “horrifying” gifts to his castmates. These, depending on who you ask, range from dead pigs and rats to anal beads and personal hygiene products, although Leto denied the most extreme claims. Then, naturally, we have Jim Carrey, who went so deep into Andy Kaufman for Man on the Moon that filmmakers succeeded to get a feature-length documentary from behind-the-scenes footage of him making life to the utmost for his colleagues.
The Modern Method Practitioners
The main Method Guy at the moment would appear to be Jeremy Strong (once an assistant to Day-Lewis), whose approach during Succession was so rigorously detailed that it formed the basis of a critical New Yorker profile, full of quotes from people who were worried for his behaviour (“It’s the cost to himself concerns me,” said Brian Cox) or extremely irritated by it (“I remember him causing everyone else to react with exasperation,” stated an anonymous cast member).
The actor claims he ‘never intended to retire, truly’
We have numerous additional cases. Andrew Garfield went celibate over half a year for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio slept in an animal carcass for The Revenant. It’s quite possible that Austin Butler continues to talk like Elvis Presley, years following the movie’s release. All of this, to some extent, is meant to invoke the seriousness with which Day-Lewis approaches his work.
An Admirable But Uphill Battle
Moreover, although his rebuttal against method detractors could be commendable, a brief promotional cycle might not be enough to alter perceptions, let alone their behaviour. Maybe if he wishes to make audiences recall what method acting is, or to show them what it can achieve, then the optimal strategy for Day-Lewis is to simply begin producing more films. Surely we could all get behind that.
