It’s been quite some time since anyone caught a glimpse of Daniel Day-Lewis. After he statement in 2017 that he would cease to work as an actor, prior to the debut of The Phantom Thread, Day-Lewis quietly faded from view. Yet, during his hiatus, his reputation expanded further.
The Legend of His Method
Largely, this legend centers on his favored style of working. As someone known for immerses himself in the roles he plays – for instance, during Lincoln, he had the director call him “Mr. President” for the entire production – audiences has become more fascinated with how he works. Did he actually sent texts to Sally Field in character as Lincoln? Was it accurate that he only eat animals he’d killed during The 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?
Now, Daniel Day-Lewis has returned in the limelight, with some hesitation, for his new film Anemone. And he is using this to vocalise his frustration regarding how the Method technique is viewed. “I am somewhat annoyed nowadays when I hear various individuals talking carelessly and using phrases like ‘gone full method’, which seems suggests that someone is behaving like a lunatic in an extreme fashion,” he told the New York Times. “People tends to focus on superficial aspects of acting, and those details typically include some sort of self-punishment or an experience 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 of Imitators
To be honest, this sounds like Day-Lewis has emerged from seclusion only to discover aghast at the acting community that has been created in his image. If you’re widely considered one of the greatest performers to ever work, and your process involves headbutting a dummy until you break your nose (in Gangs of New York) or enduring 48 hours in solitary confinement without food or water (for In the Name of the Father), then it stands to reason that other actors will attempt to emulate that example by imitating your hero.
Essentially, we exist in an environment populated by imperfect Day-Lewis impersonators who want nothing more than to demonstrate the extensive degree of dedication they put into their roles. At the shallow end of this trend we have people like Lady Gaga, who was determined to win an Oscar for House of Gucci that she spent the entire promotion trying to convince everyone that she became functionally Italian over 18 months as preparation.
Additionally, there is Jared Leto, who chose to deeply embed himself in the character as the Joker (in Suicide Squad) by sending “disturbing” presents to fellow cast members. These, according to various accounts, included deceased animals to anal beads and personal hygiene products, though Leto denied the most extreme claims. Then, naturally, we have Jim Carrey, who immersed himself so fully into Andy Kaufman during Man on the Moon that filmmakers succeeded in creating 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 Method Guy at the moment would appear to be Jeremy Strong (once Day-Lewis’s assistant), whose approach while filming Succession was so laboriously intensive that it formed the subject of a critical New Yorker profile, including statements from individuals who were worried for his behaviour (“It’s the cost to himself concerns me,” remarked Brian Cox) or extremely irritated by his actions (“I remember [him] making others to react with exasperation,” stated an unnamed co-star).
Daniel Day-Lewis claims he ‘did not plan to retire, really’
There are numerous additional cases. Andrew Garfield abstained from sex for six months for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio slept in a dead animal for The Revenant. It’s quite possible 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, aims to evoke the dedication with which Day-Lewis takes his work.
An Admirable But Uphill Fight
And, although his rebuttal to critics of the Method could be commendable, a brief promotional cycle may prove insufficient to change anyone’s mind, not to mention their behaviour. Perhaps if he wishes to make audiences recall what method acting is, or to demonstrate what it can achieve, then Day-Lewis’s best bet is to simply start making additional movies. Certainly we could all get behind that.
