It’s been quite some time since anyone caught a glimpse of Daniel Day-Lewis. After he announcement in 2017 that he would no longer pursue acting, prior to the debut of Phantom Thread, the actor withdrew from the spotlight. Yet, during his hiatus, his legend has only grown.
The Legend Surrounding His Acting Method
Primarily, this legend centers on his favored style of working. Being an actor who famously immerses himself in his characters – for example, while filming Lincoln, he had the director address him as “Mr. President” for the entire production – the world has become 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 The Last of the Mohicans? And did he demand receiving food via spoon while filming My Left Foot?
Madness in their method: has the public lost interest with over-the-top performances?
Currently, Day-Lewis has returned to public attention, with some hesitation, for his new film Anemone. He is taking this chance to vocalise his anger regarding how method acting is perceived. “I’m a little cross nowadays when I hear various individuals gobbling off and saying things like ‘gone full method’, which I think is meant to imply that someone is acting insane in a drastic way,” he stated to the New York Times. “Everyone tends to focus on the less important aspects of acting, and these elements typically include some form of self-flagellation or an experience that causes a severe discomfort or mental instability. However, in the life of an actor, it must mainly focus on the internal work.”
A World Full of Followers
Frankly, this sounds as if Day-Lewis has come out from his retreat only to discover shocked by the world that has been created in his image. If you’re regarded as one of the greatest performers in history, and your process includes headbutting a dummy to the point of injury (for Gangs of New York) or spending 48 hours in solitary confinement deprived of sustenance (during In the Name of the Father), then it stands to reason that other actors will want to emulate that example by imitating your hero.
In other words, we now live in an environment populated by half-cocked imitators of Day-Lewis who strive only to demonstrate the extensive degree of effort they invest in a character. On the milder side of the pool we have people like Lady Gaga, who was so desperate to win an Oscar with House of Gucci that she spent the entire promotion attempting to persuade people that she became an Italian native for a year and a half in preparation.
Then we have Jared Leto, who chose to deeply embed himself into the role as the Joker (for Suicide Squad) by sending “disturbing” presents to his castmates. These items, depending on who you ask, included dead pigs and rats to intimate objects and used condoms, though the actor refuted those worst excesses. Then, naturally, we have Jim Carrey, who immersed himself so fully into Andy Kaufman during Man on the Moon that filmmakers succeeded to get a full-length documentary out of B-roll of him causing difficulties to the utmost for everyone around him.
The Modern Followers of the Method
The main practitioner of the Method at the moment would appear to be Jeremy Strong (formerly an assistant to Day-Lewis), whose approach while filming Succession was so laboriously intensive that it formed the basis of a critical New Yorker profile, full of quotes from individuals who were worried about his conduct (“The toll to himself concerns me,” said Brian Cox) or annoyed beyond all measure by it (“I recall him causing others to react with exasperation,” said an unnamed co-star).
The actor claims he ‘did not plan to stop acting, truly’
We have so many other examples. Andrew Garfield abstained from sex for six months while preparing for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio rested inside an animal carcass for The Revenant. It’s quite possible that actor Austin Butler still speaks like Elvis Presley, three years after the movie’s release. Each of these instances, in part, aims to evoke the dedication with which Day-Lewis takes his craft.
An Admirable Yet Challenging Battle
Moreover, although his rebuttal to critics of the Method might be noble, a short publicity tour might not be enough to change anyone’s mind, not to mention their behaviour. Maybe if he wants to remind people the true essence of the Method, or to show them what it can achieve, then Day-Lewis’s best bet is to simply start making more films. Surely everyone would support that idea.
