It’s been a long while since anyone caught a glimpse of Daniel Day-Lewis. After he announcement in 2017 that he would cease to pursue acting, prior to the release of Phantom Thread, the actor quietly faded from view. Yet, during his hiatus, his reputation has only grown.
The Legend of His Method
Primarily, this reputation revolves around his preferred approach to roles. Being an actor known for disappears into the roles he plays – for instance, while filming the Lincoln biopic, he had Steven Spielberg call him “Mr. President” for the entire production – the world has become more fascinated with his process. Is it true he actually sent messages to co-star Sally Field as Abraham Lincoln? Was it accurate that he only eat game he hunted for The Last of the Mohicans? And did he demand being spoon-fed for My Left Foot?
Extreme acting methods: have we lost interest with actorly excess?
Now, Daniel Day-Lewis has returned to public attention, somewhat reluctantly, promoting his latest movie Anemone. He is using this to vocalise his anger regarding how the Method technique is perceived. “I’m a little cross nowadays when I hear all kinds of people talking carelessly and saying things like ‘gone full method’, which seems suggests that someone is behaving like a lunatic in a drastic way,” he stated to a major publication. “Everyone tends to focus on the less important aspects of acting, and those details always seem to involve some form of self-flagellation or a situation that causes extreme unease or mental instability. But of course, in the life for a performer, it must principally be about the internal work.”
A World Full of Followers
Frankly, this sounds as if the actor has emerged from seclusion only to discover shocked by the world that has developed mirroring his methods. If you’re regarded as among the best performers to ever work, and your process involves striking a prop to the point of injury (in Gangs of New York) or spending 48 hours in solitary confinement without food or water (during In the Name of the Father), it’s natural that fellow performers will attempt to emulate that example by imitating your hero.
In other words, we exist in an environment full of imperfect imitators of Day-Lewis who strive only to demonstrate the extensive degree of effort they put into a character. On the milder side of this trend there are performers such as Lady Gaga, who was determined to earn an Academy Award with House of Gucci that she spent the entire promotion attempting to persuade people that she became an Italian native over 18 months as preparation.
Additionally, there is Jared Leto, who decided to immerse himself in the character as the Joker (for Suicide Squad) through sending “horrifying” presents to fellow cast members. These items, according to various accounts, range from deceased animals to intimate objects and used condoms, though Leto denied the most extreme claims. And then, naturally, there is Jim Carrey, who immersed himself so fully into Andy Kaufman for Man on the Moon that they literally managed in creating a feature-length documentary out of B-roll of him causing difficulties to the utmost for everyone around him.
Contemporary Followers of the Method
The main practitioner of the Method at the moment seems to be Jeremy Strong (formerly an assistant to Day-Lewis), whose approach while filming Succession was so rigorously detailed that it became the basis of a derisive New Yorker profile, including statements from individuals who were either concerned for his behaviour (“The toll to himself concerns me,” said Brian Cox) or annoyed beyond all measure by it (“I recall [him] making everyone else roll their eyes,” said an anonymous cast member).
The actor says he ‘did not plan to stop acting, really’
We have numerous additional cases. Andrew Garfield abstained from sex over half a year for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio rested inside a dead animal 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 approaches his craft.
A Noble But Uphill Fight
Moreover, while his fightback against method detractors could be commendable, a short publicity tour might not be enough to change anyone’s mind, let alone their practices. Perhaps if he wants to remind people the true essence of the Method, or to demonstrate what it can achieve, then the optimal strategy for Day-Lewis is to just start making additional movies. Certainly everyone would support that idea.
