It’s been a long while since anyone caught a glimpse of Daniel Day-Lewis. Following his statement in 2017 declaring he would no longer pursue acting, just before the release of Phantom Thread, Day-Lewis withdrew from the spotlight. However, during his hiatus, his reputation expanded further.
The Mythos of His Acting Method
Largely, this legend centers on his preferred style of working. As someone known for immerses himself in his characters – for instance, during the Lincoln biopic, he had the director call him “Mr President” for the entire production – audiences has grown increasingly obsessed with how he works. Is it true he actually sent messages to co-star Sally Field in character as Lincoln? Was it accurate that he consumed solely game he hunted during Last of the Mohicans? And did he insist on receiving food via spoon for My Left Foot?
Madness in their method: has the public lost interest with over-the-top performances?
Currently, Day-Lewis is back in the limelight, with some hesitation, for his new film Anemone. He is taking this chance to express his frustration at how method acting is viewed. “I’m a little cross nowadays to hear various individuals talking carelessly and saying things like ‘gone full method’, which seems suggests that a person’s behaving like a lunatic in a drastic way,” he stated to a major publication. “People tends to focus on superficial details of the work, and those details typically include some form of self-punishment or a situation that causes a severe discomfort or mental instability. However, in the life for a performer, it has to principally be about the inner transformation.”
A World Full of Followers
To be honest, it appears like the actor has emerged from seclusion and found himself aghast at the world that has developed mirroring his methods. If you’re regarded as among the best actors in history, and your approach includes headbutting a dummy until you break your nose (for Gangs of New York) or spending two days in solitary confinement without food or water (during In the Name of the Father), then it stands to reason that fellow performers will want to emulate that example by imitating your hero.
Essentially, we exist in an environment full of imperfect imitators of Day-Lewis who want nothing more than to demonstrate the sheer amount of effort they invest in a character. At the shallow end 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 whole campaign trying to convince everyone that she became functionally Italian for a year and a half as preparation.
Then we have Jared Leto, who decided to immerse himself in the character as the Joker (for Suicide Squad) by sending “horrifying” gifts to his castmates. These items, according to various accounts, range from deceased animals to anal beads and personal hygiene products, though Leto denied the most extreme claims. And then, of course, we have Jim Carrey, who went so deep as Andy Kaufman for Man on the Moon that filmmakers succeeded in creating a full-length documentary from behind-the-scenes footage of him making life as impossible as he could for his colleagues.
Contemporary Followers of the Method
The foremost practitioner of the Method at the moment seems to be Jeremy Strong (formerly an assistant to Day-Lewis), whose process while filming Succession was so rigorously detailed that it became the subject of a critical magazine feature, full of quotes from individuals who were worried about his conduct (“It’s the cost to himself that worries me,” said co-star Brian Cox) or extremely irritated by his actions (“I remember him causing everyone else to react with exasperation,” stated an unnamed co-star).
The actor says he ‘never intended to stop acting, really’
There are numerous additional cases. Andrew Garfield abstained from sex for six months while preparing for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio slept in a dead animal during The Revenant. It’s quite possible that Austin Butler continues to talk like Elvis Presley, years following the movie’s release. Each of these instances, in part, is meant to invoke the seriousness in which Day-Lewis approaches his work.
A Noble Yet Challenging Fight
And, although his rebuttal to critics of the Method could be commendable, a short publicity tour may prove insufficient to change anyone’s mind, let alone their behaviour. Perhaps if he wishes to remind people what method acting is, or to demonstrate its potential results, then the optimal strategy for Day-Lewis is to just begin producing more films. Surely we could all get behind that.
