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 work as an actor, prior to the release of The Phantom Thread, Day-Lewis withdrew from the spotlight. Yet, during his hiatus, his legend expanded further.
The Legend of His Acting Method
Largely, this legend centers on his preferred approach to roles. As someone who famously disappears into the roles he plays – for instance, while filming the Lincoln biopic, he had the director address him as “Mr. President” for the entire production – the world has become increasingly obsessed with how he works. 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 The Last of the Mohicans? And did he insist on being spoon-fed while filming My Left Foot?
Madness in their method: has the public 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 frustration at how the Method technique is perceived. “I am somewhat annoyed these days when I hear various individuals gobbling off and saying things like ‘gone full method’, which seems suggests that someone is acting insane in an extreme fashion,” he stated to a major publication. “People tends to focus on superficial aspects of acting, and these elements typically include some form of self-flagellation or an experience that causes a severe discomfort or psychological strain. However, in the life of an actor, it has to mainly focus on the internal work.”
An Industry of Imitators
To be honest, this sounds like the actor has come out from his retreat only to discover shocked by the acting community that has been created in his image. When you are widely considered among the best performers to ever work, and your approach includes striking a prop until you break your nose (for Gangs of New York) or enduring two days in isolation deprived of sustenance (for In the Name of the Father), then it stands to reason that fellow performers will want to fill that vacuum by imitating their idol.
Essentially, we now live in an environment populated by half-cocked Day-Lewis impersonators who strive only to demonstrate the sheer amount of effort they put into their roles. On the milder side of the pool there are performers such as Lady Gaga, who was determined to win an Oscar for House of Gucci that she dedicated the whole campaign attempting to persuade people that she became functionally Italian over 18 months in preparation.
Additionally, there is Jared Leto, who decided to deeply embed himself in the character as the Joker (in Suicide Squad) by sending “disturbing” gifts to fellow cast members. These items, according to various accounts, included dead pigs and rats to intimate objects and personal hygiene products, although the actor refuted the most extreme claims. And then, naturally, we have Jim Carrey, who immersed himself so fully as Andy Kaufman during Man on the Moon that filmmakers succeeded to get a feature-length documentary from behind-the-scenes footage of him causing difficulties to the utmost for his colleagues.
The Modern Method Practitioners
The main Method Guy at the moment would appear to be Jeremy Strong (once Day-Lewis’s assistant), whose approach while filming Succession was so rigorously detailed that it became the subject of a derisive New Yorker profile, full of quotes from people who were worried about his conduct (“It’s the cost on himself concerns me,” remarked Brian Cox) or annoyed beyond all measure by his actions (“I recall [him] making others roll their eyes,” said an anonymous cast member).
The actor claims he ‘did not plan to retire, truly’
We have so many other examples. Andrew Garfield abstained from sex over half a year for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio rested inside an animal carcass during The Revenant. It’s quite possible that actor Austin Butler continues to talk in the style of Elvis, three years after that film came out. All of this, in part, aims to evoke the seriousness in which Day-Lewis approaches his work.
An Admirable Yet Challenging Fight
Moreover, although his rebuttal to critics of the Method could be commendable, a short publicity tour might not be enough to alter perceptions, not to mention their practices. Maybe if he wants to make audiences recall what method acting is, or to show them its potential results, then Day-Lewis’s best bet is to simply begin producing additional movies. Certainly everyone would support that idea.
