It has been quite some time since the public caught a glimpse of Daniel Day-Lewis. Following his statement in 2017 that he would no longer work as an actor, just before the release of The Phantom Thread, the actor withdrew from the spotlight. Yet, during his hiatus, his reputation expanded further.
The Legend of His Method
Primarily, this legend centers on his favored style of working. As someone who famously disappears into his characters – for example, while filming the Lincoln biopic, he had Steven Spielberg address him as “Mr President” throughout the shoot – audiences has grown more fascinated with his process. Is it true he actually sent messages to co-star Sally Field in character as Lincoln? Did he consumed solely animals he’d killed during The Last of the Mohicans? And did he demand being spoon-fed while filming My Left Foot?
Madness in their method: have we fallen out of love with over-the-top performances?
Now, Day-Lewis is back in the limelight, with some hesitation, promoting his latest movie Anemone. He is taking this chance to express his frustration regarding how method acting is perceived. “I’m a little cross nowadays when I hear various individuals gobbling off and using phrases like ‘fully embraced the Method’, which I think is meant to imply that a person’s acting insane in an extreme fashion,” he told the New York Times. “Everyone often concentrate on the less important details of the work, and those details typically include some sort of self-flagellation or an experience that imposes upon oneself extreme unease or psychological strain. However, in the life of an actor, it must principally be about the internal work.”
An Industry Full of Followers
To be honest, it appears like the actor has emerged from seclusion and found himself shocked by the world that has been created mirroring his methods. If you’re regarded as among the best actors to ever work, and your approach involves headbutting a dummy to the point of injury (in Gangs of New York) or spending two days in isolation without food or water (during In the Name of the Father), it’s natural that fellow performers will attempt to emulate that example by trying to mimic your hero.
Essentially, we exist in a landscape populated by imperfect imitators of Day-Lewis who strive only to demonstrate the sheer amount of effort they invest in their roles. At the shallow end of this trend we have people like Lady Gaga, who was determined to win an Oscar with House of Gucci that she dedicated the entire promotion trying to convince everyone that she became an Italian native over 18 months as preparation.
Then we have Jared Leto, who chose to immerse himself in the character as the Joker (for Suicide Squad) through sending “horrifying” presents to fellow cast members. These items, depending on who you ask, included deceased animals to intimate objects and used condoms, though Leto denied those worst excesses. And then, of course, there is Jim Carrey, who immersed himself so fully into Andy Kaufman during Man on the Moon that they literally managed to get a full-length documentary from behind-the-scenes footage of him making life as impossible as he could for everyone around him.
The Modern Followers of the Method
The foremost Method Guy currently would appear to be Jeremy Strong (once an assistant to Day-Lewis), whose process during Succession was so rigorously detailed that it became the basis of a critical New Yorker profile, including statements from people who were either concerned for his behaviour (“The toll on himself concerns me,” remarked co-star Brian Cox) or extremely irritated by it (“I remember 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’
There are so many other examples. Andrew Garfield abstained from sex for six months for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio rested inside a dead animal during The Revenant. There’s a fighting chance that actor Austin Butler still speaks in the style of Elvis, three years after the movie’s release. Each of these instances, to some extent, is meant to invoke the dedication with which Day-Lewis approaches his work.
A Noble But Uphill Battle
Moreover, although his rebuttal against method detractors could be commendable, a brief promotional cycle might not be enough to change anyone’s mind, let alone their behaviour. Maybe if he wishes to make audiences recall what method acting is, or to demonstrate its potential results, then the optimal strategy for Day-Lewis is to simply start making more films. Surely everyone would get behind that.
