It has been a long while since anyone saw or heard from Daniel Day-Lewis. After he statement in 2017 that he would cease to work as an actor, just before the release of Phantom Thread, Day-Lewis withdrew from the spotlight. However, during his hiatus, his reputation has only grown.
The Legend of His Acting Method
Largely, this reputation centers on his preferred style of working. As someone known for immerses himself in his characters – for example, during Lincoln, he had Steven Spielberg address him as “Mr. President” throughout the shoot – audiences has grown increasingly obsessed with his process. Is it true he actually sent texts to Sally Field as Abraham Lincoln? Did he consumed solely game he hunted for The Last of the Mohicans? And did he demand being spoon-fed for My Left Foot?
Madness in their method: have we fallen out of love with actorly excess?
Currently, Daniel Day-Lewis is back in the limelight, somewhat reluctantly, promoting his latest movie Anemone. He is taking this chance to vocalise his anger regarding how the Method technique is perceived. “I am somewhat annoyed nowadays to hear all kinds of people gobbling off and using phrases like ‘fully embraced the Method’, which I think suggests that a person’s acting insane in an extreme fashion,” he stated to a major publication. “People tends to focus on superficial details of the work, and those details typically include some form of self-punishment or a situation that causes a severe discomfort or psychological strain. However, in the career of an actor, it must principally be about the inner transformation.”
A World 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. When you are widely considered one of the greatest performers in history, and your approach includes headbutting a dummy until you break your nose (for Gangs of New York) or spending 48 hours in solitary confinement deprived of sustenance (during In the Name of the Father), then it stands to reason that other actors will want to fill that vacuum by trying to mimic their idol.
In other words, we exist in an environment full of imperfect Day-Lewis impersonators who want nothing more than to demonstrate the extensive degree of effort they invest in their roles. On the milder side of this trend there are performers such as Lady Gaga, who was so desperate to win an Oscar with House of Gucci that she spent the entire promotion attempting to persuade people that she transformed into functionally Italian for a year and a half as preparation.
Additionally, there is Jared Leto, who chose to immerse himself in the character of the Joker (for Suicide Squad) by sending “disturbing” presents to his castmates. These items, depending on who you ask, range from deceased animals to intimate objects and used condoms, though the actor refuted those worst excesses. And then, naturally, we have Jim Carrey, who went so deep as Andy Kaufman for Man on the Moon that filmmakers succeeded in creating a full-length documentary from behind-the-scenes footage of him making life as impossible as he could for his colleagues.
Contemporary Method Practitioners
The foremost practitioner of the Method currently would appear to be Jeremy Strong (formerly an assistant to Day-Lewis), whose process during Succession was so laboriously intensive that it became the subject of a derisive New Yorker profile, including statements from people who were either concerned for his behaviour (“The toll on himself concerns me,” remarked Brian Cox) or extremely irritated by it (“I recall him causing others roll their eyes,” stated an unnamed co-star).
Daniel Day-Lewis says he ‘never intended to retire, truly’
We have so many other examples. Andrew Garfield went celibate for six months for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio slept in a dead animal during The Revenant. It’s quite possible that Austin Butler still speaks like Elvis Presley, years following that film came out. Each of these instances, in part, is meant to invoke the dedication with which Day-Lewis takes his work.
A Noble Yet Challenging Battle
Moreover, while his fightback against method detractors might be noble, a brief promotional cycle might not be enough to change anyone’s mind, let alone their behaviour. Perhaps if he wants to remind people what method acting is, or to demonstrate what it can achieve, then Day-Lewis’s best bet is to simply start making more films. Surely we could all support that idea.
