It’s been quite some time since anyone saw or heard from the acclaimed actor Daniel Day-Lewis. Following his announcement in 2017 declaring he would no longer work as an actor, prior to the release of The Phantom Thread, Day-Lewis quietly faded from view. However, in his absence, his reputation expanded further.
The Mythos of His Acting Method
Largely, this legend revolves around his favored approach to roles. As someone who famously disappears into the roles he plays – for instance, during Lincoln, reportedly asked the director call him “Mr President” for the entire production – audiences has grown increasingly obsessed with his process. Did he actually sent messages to co-star Sally Field in character as Lincoln? Was it accurate that he consumed solely animals he’d killed during Last of the Mohicans? Did he demand receiving food via spoon for My Left Foot?
Madness in their method: have we lost interest with actorly excess?
Now, Day-Lewis has returned in the limelight, somewhat reluctantly, promoting his latest movie Anemone. He is taking this chance to vocalise his frustration regarding how the Method technique is perceived. “I am somewhat annoyed nowadays when I hear all kinds of people gobbling off and saying things like ‘gone full method’, which seems suggests that a person’s behaving like a lunatic in an extreme fashion,” he told the New York Times. “People often concentrate on the less important aspects of acting, and those details typically include some form of self-punishment or a situation that causes extreme unease or psychological strain. However, in the career for a performer, it must mainly focus on the inner transformation.”
A World of Imitators
Frankly, it appears as if Day-Lewis has emerged from seclusion only to discover shocked by the world that has developed in his image. When you are regarded as one of the greatest performers in history, and your process involves striking a prop to the point of injury (for 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 their idol.
Essentially, we exist in a landscape full of imperfect Day-Lewis impersonators who want nothing more than to demonstrate the sheer amount of dedication they put into a character. At the shallow end of this trend we have people like Lady Gaga, who was so desperate to earn an Academy Award with House of Gucci that she dedicated the entire promotion trying to convince everyone that she became an Italian native for a year and a half in preparation.
Additionally, there is Jared Leto, who decided to immerse himself in the character of the Joker (in Suicide Squad) by sending “disturbing” presents to fellow cast members. These items, depending on who you ask, range from dead pigs and rats to anal beads and personal hygiene products, though the actor refuted those worst excesses. And then, of course, there is Jim Carrey, who went so deep into Andy Kaufman during Man on the Moon that they literally managed in creating a feature-length documentary out of B-roll of him making life as impossible as he could for his colleagues.
Contemporary Followers of the Method
The foremost Method Guy currently seems to be Jeremy Strong (once an assistant to Day-Lewis), whose process while filming Succession was so laboriously intensive that it formed the subject of a critical magazine feature, including statements from people who were worried about his conduct (“The toll to himself concerns me,” remarked co-star Brian Cox) or extremely irritated by his actions (“I remember him causing others to react with exasperation,” said an unnamed co-star).
The actor claims he ‘never intended to retire, really’
There are numerous additional cases. Andrew Garfield abstained from sex for six months for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio slept in an animal carcass during The Revenant. There’s a fighting chance that Austin Butler still speaks in the style of Elvis, years following the movie’s release. All of this, in part, aims to evoke the dedication with which Day-Lewis takes his work.
A Noble But Uphill Battle
Moreover, while his fightback against method detractors could be commendable, a brief promotional cycle may prove insufficient to alter perceptions, not to mention their practices. Perhaps if he wants to remind people the true essence of the Method, or to show them what it can achieve, then the optimal strategy for Day-Lewis is to simply begin producing more films. Surely we could all get behind that.
