It has been a long while since anyone saw or heard from the acclaimed actor Daniel Day-Lewis. Following his announcement in 2017 that he would no longer pursue acting, prior to the release of The Phantom Thread, Day-Lewis quietly faded from view. Yet, during his hiatus, his reputation has only grown.
The Legend Surrounding His Method
Primarily, this reputation centers on his favored style of working. As someone who famously disappears into the roles he plays – for instance, during the Lincoln biopic, reportedly asked the director address him as “Mr. President” throughout the shoot – the world has grown more fascinated with his process. Did he really send texts to Sally Field as Abraham Lincoln? Did he only eat game he hunted for The Last of the Mohicans? Did he insist on receiving food via spoon for My Left Foot?
Madness in their method: has the public fallen out of love with over-the-top performances?
Currently, Daniel Day-Lewis is back in the limelight, somewhat reluctantly, for his new film Anemone. And he is using this to vocalise his frustration at how the Method technique is perceived. “I’m a little cross nowadays to hear various individuals talking carelessly and saying things like ‘fully embraced the Method’, which I think is meant to imply that someone is acting insane in an extreme fashion,” he stated to the New York Times. “Everyone often concentrate on superficial aspects of acting, and those details typically include some form of self-punishment or a situation that imposes upon oneself a severe discomfort or psychological strain. But of course, in the career of an actor, it must principally be about the inner transformation.”
An Industry of Imitators
Frankly, it appears as if Day-Lewis has emerged from seclusion and found himself aghast at the acting community that has been created mirroring his methods. When you are regarded as one of the greatest performers to ever work, and your approach includes headbutting a dummy until you break your nose (in Gangs of New York) or enduring two days in isolation deprived of sustenance (during In the Name of the Father), it’s natural that other actors will attempt to fill that vacuum by imitating your hero.
Essentially, we exist in an environment populated by imperfect imitators of Day-Lewis who strive only to demonstrate the extensive degree of effort they invest in a character. At the shallow end of the pool we have people like Lady Gaga, who was determined to win an Oscar for House of Gucci that she dedicated the whole campaign attempting to persuade people that she became an Italian native for a year and a half as preparation.
Then we have Jared Leto, who decided to deeply embed himself into the role of the Joker (in Suicide Squad) through sending “horrifying” presents to his castmates. These, depending on who you ask, included deceased animals to anal beads and personal hygiene products, although the actor refuted those worst excesses. And then, of course, we have Jim Carrey, who immersed himself so fully as Andy Kaufman for Man on the Moon that they literally managed to get a feature-length documentary out of B-roll of him making life as impossible as he could for his colleagues.
Contemporary Method Practitioners
The main practitioner of the Method currently would appear to be Jeremy Strong (once an assistant to Day-Lewis), whose approach during Succession was so laboriously intensive that it became the basis of a derisive New Yorker profile, full of quotes from individuals who were worried for his behaviour (“The toll to himself that worries me,” said Brian Cox) or annoyed beyond all measure by it (“I remember him causing everyone else roll their eyes,” said an anonymous cast member).
Daniel Day-Lewis claims he ‘did not plan to stop acting, 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 Austin Butler continues to talk in the style of Elvis, three years after the movie’s release. Each of these instances, in part, aims to evoke the dedication with which Day-Lewis approaches his craft.
An Admirable But Uphill Fight
And, although his rebuttal to critics of the Method might be noble, a short publicity tour might not be enough to alter perceptions, let alone their practices. Maybe if he wants to make audiences recall the true essence of the Method, or to demonstrate its potential results, then the optimal strategy for Day-Lewis is to just start making additional movies. Certainly we could all support that idea.
