It has been quite some time since the public saw or heard from the acclaimed actor Daniel Day-Lewis. Following his announcement in 2017 declaring he would cease to pursue acting, just before the release of Phantom Thread, the actor quietly faded from view. Yet, during his hiatus, his reputation expanded further.
The Mythos Surrounding His Acting Method
Primarily, this reputation centers on his favored approach to roles. Being an actor who famously disappears into the roles he plays – for example, while filming Lincoln, reportedly asked the director call him “Mr President” throughout the shoot – the world has become increasingly obsessed with his process. Is it true he really send messages to co-star Sally Field as Abraham Lincoln? Was it accurate that he consumed solely game he hunted during The Last of the Mohicans? Did he demand being spoon-fed for My Left Foot?
Madness in their method: have we fallen out of love with over-the-top performances?
Currently, Day-Lewis has returned in the limelight, with some hesitation, promoting his latest movie Anemone. He is taking this chance to vocalise his anger at how method acting is viewed. “I’m a little cross these days when I hear all kinds of people gobbling off and saying things like ‘gone full method’, which seems suggests that a person’s behaving like a lunatic in an extreme fashion,” he stated to the New York Times. “People tends to focus on the less important aspects of acting, and those details typically include some sort of self-flagellation or a situation that causes a severe discomfort or psychological strain. However, in the life for a performer, it has to principally be about the inner transformation.”
A World Full of Followers
Frankly, it appears like the actor has come out from his retreat only to discover shocked by the acting community that has developed mirroring his methods. When you are widely considered among the best actors to ever work, and your process includes striking a prop until you break your nose (in Gangs of New York) or enduring two days in solitary confinement without food or water (for In the Name of the Father), then it stands to reason that fellow performers will attempt to emulate that example by trying to mimic your hero.
Essentially, we now live in an environment populated by imperfect Day-Lewis impersonators who want nothing more than to show the world the sheer amount of dedication they put into their roles. On the milder side of the pool we have people like Lady Gaga, who was determined to earn an Academy Award for House of Gucci that she dedicated the whole campaign trying to convince everyone that she transformed into functionally Italian over 18 months in preparation.
Additionally, there is Jared Leto, who chose to immerse himself in the character as the Joker (in Suicide Squad) through sending “disturbing” presents to his castmates. These items, depending on who you ask, range from dead pigs and rats to intimate objects and used condoms, although the actor refuted those worst excesses. Then, naturally, there is Jim Carrey, who immersed himself so fully as Andy Kaufman during Man on the Moon that they succeeded to get a full-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 would appear to be Jeremy Strong (formerly Day-Lewis’s assistant), whose process while filming Succession was so rigorously detailed that it formed the subject of a critical magazine feature, including statements from people who were worried about his conduct (“The toll on himself that worries me,” said co-star Brian Cox) or extremely irritated by his actions (“I recall him causing others to react with exasperation,” stated an unnamed co-star).
Daniel Day-Lewis says he ‘never intended to stop acting, really’
We have numerous additional cases. Andrew Garfield abstained from sex for six months while preparing for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio slept in a dead animal for The Revenant. There’s a fighting chance that actor Austin Butler still speaks in the style of Elvis, years following the movie’s release. Each of these instances, in part, is meant to invoke the seriousness in which Day-Lewis takes his craft.
A Noble Yet Challenging Battle
Moreover, although his rebuttal against method detractors might be noble, a short publicity tour may prove insufficient to change anyone’s mind, let alone their practices. Perhaps if he wants to make audiences recall the true essence of the Method, or to show them its potential results, then the optimal strategy for Day-Lewis is to just begin producing additional movies. Certainly we could all get behind that.
