It’s been a long while since the public caught a glimpse of Daniel Day-Lewis. After he statement in 2017 that he would no longer pursue acting, just before the release of Phantom Thread, the actor quietly faded from view. However, during his hiatus, his legend expanded further.
The Mythos Surrounding His Acting Method
Largely, this reputation centers on his favored style of working. Being an actor known for immerses himself in the roles he plays – for example, during Lincoln, reportedly asked Steven Spielberg address him as “Mr President” throughout the shoot – audiences has grown more fascinated with his process. Is it true he really send messages to co-star Sally Field as Abraham Lincoln? Did he only eat game he hunted for Last of the Mohicans? And did he insist on receiving food via spoon for My Left Foot?
Extreme acting methods: have we fallen out of love with over-the-top performances?
Now, Daniel Day-Lewis has returned in the limelight, somewhat reluctantly, for his new film Anemone. And he is taking this chance to vocalise his anger at how the Method technique is perceived. “I am somewhat annoyed these days to hear all kinds of people talking carelessly and saying things like ‘fully embraced the Method’, which I think suggests that someone is behaving like a lunatic in an extreme fashion,” he stated to a major publication. “People tends to focus on the less important details of the work, and those details always seem to involve some form of self-flagellation or an experience that causes extreme unease or mental instability. But of course, in the career for a performer, it has to mainly focus on the inner transformation.”
An Industry of Imitators
Frankly, it appears like Day-Lewis has come out from seclusion and found himself aghast at the acting community that has developed mirroring his methods. If you’re widely considered among the best actors to ever work, and your process involves striking a prop until you break your nose (for Gangs of New York) or spending 48 hours in isolation without food or water (during In the Name of the Father), it’s natural that other actors will attempt to emulate that example by imitating their idol.
In other words, we now live in a landscape full of imperfect Day-Lewis impersonators who strive only to show the world the sheer amount of dedication they put into a character. At the shallow end of the pool there are performers such as Lady Gaga, who was determined to earn an Academy Award for House of Gucci that she dedicated the entire promotion trying to convince everyone that she became functionally Italian for a year and a half in preparation.
Then we have Jared Leto, who chose to immerse himself into the role of the Joker (in Suicide Squad) by sending “horrifying” presents to his castmates. These items, according to various accounts, included dead pigs and rats to intimate objects and used condoms, though Leto denied the most extreme claims. Then, naturally, there is Jim Carrey, who went so deep into Andy Kaufman during Man on the Moon that they literally managed to get a full-length documentary out of B-roll of him causing difficulties to the utmost for everyone around him.
Contemporary Method Practitioners
The main Method Guy at the moment seems to be Jeremy Strong (formerly an assistant to Day-Lewis), whose approach while filming Succession was so laboriously intensive that it became the subject of a critical magazine feature, including statements from people who were either concerned for his behaviour (“It’s the cost on himself that worries me,” remarked Brian Cox) or extremely irritated by it (“I recall [him] making others to react with exasperation,” stated an anonymous cast member).
Daniel Day-Lewis says he ‘did not plan to retire, really’
We have numerous additional cases. Andrew Garfield abstained from sex for six months while preparing for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio rested inside an animal carcass during The Revenant. It’s quite possible that Austin Butler still speaks in the style of Elvis, years following that film came out. Each of these instances, in part, aims to evoke the seriousness with which Day-Lewis takes his work.
A Noble Yet Challenging Battle
And, while his fightback against method detractors might be noble, a short publicity tour might not be enough to alter perceptions, let alone their behaviour. Maybe if he wishes to make audiences recall what method acting is, or to show them what it can achieve, then Day-Lewis’s best bet is to just begin producing more films. Surely we could all support that idea.
