It’s been a long while since the public saw or heard from the acclaimed actor Daniel Day-Lewis. After he announcement in 2017 declaring he would cease to pursue acting, just before the release of Phantom Thread, Day-Lewis quietly faded from view. Yet, in his absence, his reputation has only grown.
The Mythos Surrounding His Method
Largely, this legend revolves around his preferred style of working. Being an actor known for immerses himself in his characters – for example, while filming the Lincoln biopic, he had Steven Spielberg address him as “Mr. President” for the entire production – audiences has grown more fascinated with his process. Is it true he actually sent messages to co-star Sally Field as Abraham Lincoln? Did he only eat game he hunted for Last of the Mohicans? And did he demand receiving food via spoon while filming My Left Foot?
Madness in their method: have we fallen out of love with over-the-top performances?
Currently, Daniel Day-Lewis has returned in the limelight, with some hesitation, promoting his latest movie Anemone. He is taking this chance to express his anger at how the Method technique is viewed. “I’m a little cross nowadays to hear all kinds of people gobbling off and saying things like ‘fully embraced the Method’, which seems suggests that someone is acting insane in a drastic way,” he told a major publication. “People often concentrate on the less important aspects of acting, and those details typically include some sort of self-punishment or a situation that causes a severe discomfort or psychological strain. However, in the career of an actor, it has to mainly focus on the internal work.”
A World of Imitators
To be honest, this sounds like the actor has emerged from seclusion and found himself shocked by the world that has been created in his image. When you are widely considered among the best actors to ever work, and your approach involves striking a prop until you break your nose (in Gangs of New York) or enduring 48 hours in isolation deprived of sustenance (during In the Name of the Father), it’s natural that other actors will want to emulate that example by trying to mimic their idol.
In other words, we exist in a landscape full of half-cocked Day-Lewis impersonators who want nothing more than to demonstrate the extensive degree of dedication they put into a character. On the milder side 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 attempting to persuade people that she became functionally Italian over 18 months in preparation.
Additionally, there is Jared Leto, who chose to deeply embed himself in the character of the Joker (in Suicide Squad) through sending “disturbing” gifts to fellow cast members. These, according to various accounts, range from deceased animals to anal beads and used condoms, though Leto denied the most extreme claims. Then, of course, we have Jim Carrey, who immersed himself so fully into Andy Kaufman for Man on the Moon that filmmakers succeeded in creating a feature-length documentary out of B-roll of him causing difficulties as impossible as he could for everyone around him.
The Modern Method Practitioners
The main Method Guy currently would appear to be Jeremy Strong (once Day-Lewis’s assistant), whose approach during Succession was so laboriously intensive that it became the basis of a derisive New Yorker profile, full of quotes from individuals who were either concerned for his behaviour (“It’s the cost to himself concerns me,” remarked Brian Cox) or annoyed beyond all measure by his actions (“I remember him causing others to react with exasperation,” said an anonymous cast member).
Daniel Day-Lewis claims he ‘did not plan to stop acting, truly’
We have so many other examples. Andrew Garfield went celibate over half a year for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio slept in an animal carcass for The Revenant. It’s quite possible that Austin Butler continues to talk like Elvis Presley, years following that film came out. Each of these instances, to some extent, aims to evoke the seriousness in which Day-Lewis takes his work.
A Noble But Uphill Fight
Moreover, while his fightback to critics of the Method might be noble, a brief promotional cycle might not be enough to change anyone’s mind, let alone their behaviour. Maybe if he wants to remind people what method acting is, or to demonstrate its potential results, then the optimal strategy for Day-Lewis is to just begin producing more films. Surely we could all support that idea.
