It’s been a long while since the public saw or heard from the acclaimed actor Daniel Day-Lewis. After he statement in 2017 that he would cease to work as an actor, just before the debut of The Phantom Thread, the actor quietly faded from view. However, in his absence, his reputation expanded further.
The Mythos of His Method
Largely, this reputation centers on his favored style of working. Being an actor known for immerses himself in the roles he plays – for instance, while filming the Lincoln biopic, he had Steven Spielberg address him as “Mr. President” throughout the shoot – audiences has become more fascinated with how he works. Did he really send messages to co-star Sally Field in character as Lincoln? Was it accurate that he consumed solely animals he’d killed for Last of the Mohicans? And did he demand receiving food via spoon for My Left Foot?
Extreme acting methods: has the public fallen out of love with actorly excess?
Currently, Daniel Day-Lewis is back in the limelight, somewhat reluctantly, promoting his latest movie Anemone. And he is using this to vocalise his frustration at how method acting is viewed. “I’m a little cross nowadays to hear all kinds of people talking carelessly and using phrases like ‘gone full method’, which I think is meant to imply that someone is behaving like a lunatic in a drastic way,” he told a major publication. “People tends to focus on the less important details of the work, and those details typically include some form of self-punishment or a situation that causes extreme unease or psychological strain. But of course, in the career of an actor, it has to mainly focus on the internal work.”
An Industry Full of Followers
Frankly, this sounds 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 to ever work, and your process includes headbutting a dummy until you break your nose (for Gangs of New York) or enduring two days in solitary confinement without food or water (during In the Name of the Father), then it stands to reason that fellow performers will attempt to fill that vacuum by trying to mimic your hero.
Essentially, we exist in an environment populated by half-cocked Day-Lewis impersonators who strive only to show the world 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 so desperate to earn an Academy Award with House of Gucci that she spent the entire promotion attempting to persuade people that she transformed into an Italian native for a year and a half in preparation.
Additionally, there is Jared Leto, who chose to immerse himself into the role of the Joker (for Suicide Squad) by sending “horrifying” gifts to his castmates. These, depending on who you ask, range from dead pigs and rats to intimate objects and used condoms, although the actor refuted the most extreme claims. And then, of course, we have Jim Carrey, who went so deep as Andy Kaufman for Man on the Moon that filmmakers literally managed 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 Method Practitioners
The foremost practitioner of the Method currently seems to be Jeremy Strong (once an assistant to Day-Lewis), whose process during Succession was so rigorously detailed that it formed the basis of a derisive magazine feature, including statements from individuals who were either concerned about his conduct (“The toll on himself concerns me,” remarked co-star Brian Cox) or annoyed beyond all measure by his actions (“I recall him causing everyone else roll their eyes,” said an anonymous cast member).
The actor says he ‘never intended to retire, truly’
We have numerous additional cases. Andrew Garfield went celibate for six months for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio rested inside an animal carcass for The Revenant. It’s quite possible that actor Austin Butler continues to talk in the style of Elvis, years following that film came out. All of this, to some extent, aims to evoke the seriousness in which Day-Lewis approaches his craft.
An Admirable Yet Challenging Fight
Moreover, while his fightback to critics of the Method could be commendable, a brief promotional cycle might not be enough to change anyone’s mind, let alone their practices. Maybe if he wants 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 start making more films. Surely we could all support that idea.
