It has been a long while since the public caught a glimpse of Daniel Day-Lewis. Following his announcement in 2017 declaring he would cease to pursue acting, just before the debut of Phantom Thread, the actor withdrew from the spotlight. However, in his absence, his reputation expanded further.
The Legend of His Acting Method
Largely, this reputation centers on his preferred approach to roles. As someone who famously disappears into the roles he plays – for example, during Lincoln, he had Steven Spielberg call him “Mr President” for the entire production – the world has grown increasingly obsessed with his process. Is it true he actually sent messages to co-star Sally Field as Abraham Lincoln? Did he only eat animals he’d killed for Last of the Mohicans? Did he insist on receiving food via spoon for My Left Foot?
Madness in their method: have we lost interest with over-the-top performances?
Currently, Daniel Day-Lewis has returned to public attention, with some hesitation, promoting his latest movie Anemone. And he is taking this chance to vocalise his anger regarding how method acting is viewed. “I am somewhat annoyed these days when I hear all kinds of people talking carelessly and using phrases like ‘fully embraced the Method’, which seems is meant to imply that someone is behaving like a lunatic in an extreme fashion,” he told the New York Times. “Everyone tends to focus on the less important details of the work, and these elements always seem to involve some sort of self-flagellation or an experience that causes a severe discomfort or psychological strain. However, in the life of an actor, it has to principally be about the internal work.”
An Industry Full of Followers
Frankly, this sounds as if Day-Lewis has come out from his retreat and found himself aghast at the world that has been created in his image. If you’re widely considered one of the greatest performers to ever work, and your process involves headbutting a dummy until you break your nose (for Gangs of New York) or spending two days in isolation deprived of sustenance (during In the Name of the Father), then it stands to reason that fellow performers will attempt to fill that vacuum by trying to mimic their idol.
Essentially, we now live in an environment full of imperfect imitators of Day-Lewis who strive only to show the world the sheer amount of dedication they invest in a character. At the shallow end of the pool we have people like Lady Gaga, who was so desperate to earn an Academy Award for House of Gucci that she dedicated the entire promotion trying to convince everyone that she transformed into an Italian native over 18 months in preparation.
Additionally, there is Jared Leto, who decided to deeply embed himself into the role as the Joker (for Suicide Squad) by sending “horrifying” presents to his castmates. These items, depending on who you ask, included deceased animals to anal beads and used condoms, although the actor refuted the most extreme claims. Then, of course, there is Jim Carrey, who immersed himself so fully into Andy Kaufman during Man on the Moon that filmmakers succeeded in creating a full-length documentary from behind-the-scenes footage of him causing difficulties as impossible as he could for everyone around him.
Contemporary Method Practitioners
The foremost practitioner of the Method currently seems to be Jeremy Strong (once an assistant to Day-Lewis), whose process during Succession was so rigorously detailed that it became the subject of a derisive New Yorker profile, full of quotes from people who were either concerned for his behaviour (“The toll to himself concerns me,” remarked Brian Cox) or annoyed beyond all measure by it (“I recall him causing everyone else roll their eyes,” stated an anonymous cast member).
The actor claims he ‘never intended to stop acting, truly’
We have numerous additional cases. Andrew Garfield went celibate for six months while preparing for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio rested inside a dead animal for The Revenant. It’s quite possible that actor Austin Butler continues to talk like Elvis Presley, three years after the movie’s release. Each of these instances, to some extent, is meant to invoke the seriousness in which Day-Lewis approaches his craft.
An Admirable But Uphill Battle
Moreover, while his fightback against method detractors could be commendable, a short publicity tour might not be enough to alter perceptions, not to mention their practices. Maybe if he wants to remind people the true essence of the Method, or to show them its potential results, then Day-Lewis’s best bet is to just start making additional movies. Surely everyone would support that idea.
