It has been a long while since anyone caught a glimpse of the acclaimed actor Daniel Day-Lewis. Following his statement in 2017 that he would no longer pursue acting, just before the release of The Phantom Thread, the actor quietly faded from view. Yet, in his absence, his legend expanded further.
The Legend of His Acting Method
Largely, this legend centers on his preferred approach to roles. As someone who famously immerses himself in his characters – for example, while filming the Lincoln biopic, he had the director call him “Mr President” for the entire production – audiences has become increasingly obsessed with how he works. Is it true he actually sent texts to Sally Field in character as Lincoln? Did he consumed solely animals he’d killed for The Last of the Mohicans? And did he demand receiving food via spoon for My Left Foot?
Extreme acting methods: has the public fallen out of love with actorly excess?
Now, Day-Lewis is back in the limelight, somewhat reluctantly, promoting his latest movie Anemone. He is taking this chance to express his anger regarding how the Method technique is viewed. “I am somewhat annoyed nowadays to hear all kinds of people gobbling off and saying things like ‘gone full method’, which I think is meant to imply that someone is behaving like a lunatic in an extreme fashion,” he stated to a major publication. “Everyone often concentrate on superficial details of the work, and those details always seem to involve some sort of self-punishment or a situation that imposes upon oneself a severe discomfort or psychological strain. However, in the life for a performer, it has to mainly focus on the internal work.”
An Industry Full of Followers
To be honest, it appears as if Day-Lewis has come out from his retreat and found himself shocked by the acting community that has been created in his image. If you’re regarded as among the best actors to ever work, and your process involves striking a prop to the point of injury (for Gangs of New York) or enduring 48 hours in isolation without food or water (for In the Name of the Father), it’s natural that fellow performers will attempt to emulate that example by imitating their idol.
Essentially, we exist in an environment full of half-cocked 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 we have people like Lady Gaga, who was determined to earn an Academy Award with House of Gucci that she dedicated the whole campaign trying to convince everyone that she became an Italian native over 18 months as preparation.
Then we have Jared Leto, who decided to deeply embed himself into the role of the Joker (for Suicide Squad) through sending “horrifying” presents to fellow cast members. These, depending on who you ask, included dead pigs and rats to anal beads and personal hygiene products, though Leto denied the most extreme claims. And then, naturally, we have Jim Carrey, who went so deep into Andy Kaufman for Man on the Moon that they succeeded to get a feature-length documentary out of B-roll of him causing difficulties to the utmost for his colleagues.
Contemporary Method Practitioners
The foremost Method Guy at the moment would appear to be Jeremy Strong (formerly an assistant to Day-Lewis), whose approach during Succession was so laboriously intensive that it formed the subject of a critical magazine feature, full of quotes from people who were either concerned about his conduct (“It’s the cost on himself that worries me,” remarked co-star Brian Cox) or extremely irritated by his actions (“I recall [him] making everyone else to react with exasperation,” stated an unnamed co-star).
The actor claims he ‘never intended to retire, truly’
There are numerous additional cases. Andrew Garfield abstained from sex over half a year for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio slept in a dead animal for The Revenant. It’s quite possible that 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 dedication with which Day-Lewis takes his work.
An Admirable Yet Challenging Fight
And, while his fightback against method detractors might be noble, a brief promotional cycle may prove insufficient to change anyone’s mind, not to mention their behaviour. Perhaps if he wishes to remind people the true essence of the Method, or to show them its potential results, then the optimal strategy for Day-Lewis is to just start making additional movies. Certainly everyone would support that idea.
