It’s been quite some time since anyone caught a glimpse of Daniel Day-Lewis. Following his announcement in 2017 that he would no longer pursue acting, just before the debut of Phantom Thread, the actor withdrew from the spotlight. Yet, during his hiatus, his legend expanded further.
The Legend of His Method
Largely, this reputation centers on his preferred approach to roles. Being an actor known for immerses himself in his characters – for instance, while filming the Lincoln biopic, he had the director address him as “Mr President” throughout the shoot – the world has become increasingly obsessed with his process. Is it true he really send messages to co-star Sally Field in character as Lincoln? Was it accurate that he consumed solely game he hunted during Last of the Mohicans? And did he insist on being spoon-fed for My Left Foot?
Madness in their method: has the public fallen out of love with over-the-top performances?
Currently, Day-Lewis is back in the limelight, with some hesitation, promoting his latest movie Anemone. He is using this to vocalise his frustration regarding how method acting is viewed. “I’m a little cross these days to hear all kinds of people gobbling off and saying things like ‘fully embraced the Method’, which seems suggests that a person’s behaving like a lunatic in a drastic way,” he stated to a major publication. “Everyone often concentrate on superficial aspects of acting, and those details typically include some sort of self-punishment or a situation that causes extreme unease or psychological strain. However, in the life for a performer, it has to mainly focus on the inner transformation.”
An Industry Full of Followers
To be honest, this sounds as if Day-Lewis has emerged from his retreat only to discover shocked by the world that has been created mirroring his methods. When you are widely considered one of the greatest performers to ever work, and your process includes headbutting a dummy to the point of injury (for Gangs of New York) or spending two days in isolation deprived of sustenance (during In the Name of the Father), it’s natural that other actors will want to fill that vacuum by imitating your hero.
Essentially, we exist in a landscape populated by half-cocked imitators of Day-Lewis who strive only to show the world the sheer amount of dedication they invest in a character. On the milder side of the pool there are performers such as Lady Gaga, who was so desperate to win an Oscar for House of Gucci that she spent 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 immerse himself in the character as the Joker (for Suicide Squad) by sending “disturbing” presents to his castmates. These, depending on who you ask, range from deceased animals to intimate objects and used condoms, although Leto denied those worst excesses. Then, naturally, we have Jim Carrey, who immersed himself so fully into Andy Kaufman for Man on the Moon that they literally managed to get a feature-length documentary from behind-the-scenes footage of him making life as impossible as he could for his colleagues.
Contemporary Method Practitioners
The main Method Guy currently would appear to be Jeremy Strong (once an assistant to Day-Lewis), whose process while filming Succession was so rigorously detailed that it formed the subject of a critical magazine feature, 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 his actions (“I recall him causing others to react with exasperation,” stated an anonymous cast member).
The actor claims he ‘never intended to stop acting, truly’
We have numerous additional cases. Andrew Garfield abstained from sex over half a year while preparing for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio rested inside an animal carcass for The Revenant. There’s a fighting chance that Austin Butler continues to talk in the style of Elvis, three years after the movie’s release. All of this, in part, is meant to invoke the dedication with which Day-Lewis approaches his craft.
An Admirable Yet Challenging Battle
And, while his fightback to critics of the Method might be noble, a short publicity tour may prove insufficient to change anyone’s mind, let alone their practices. Maybe if he wants to remind people what method acting is, or to show them what it can achieve, then the optimal strategy for Day-Lewis is to just begin producing additional movies. Certainly everyone would support that idea.
