It’s been a long while since the public caught a glimpse of the acclaimed actor Daniel Day-Lewis. After he announcement in 2017 declaring he would cease to pursue acting, prior to the debut of The Phantom Thread, Day-Lewis quietly faded from view. However, in his absence, his legend has only grown.
The Mythos Surrounding His Method
Primarily, this reputation revolves around his preferred approach to roles. Being an actor known for disappears into his characters – for example, while filming Lincoln, reportedly asked the director call him “Mr President” for the entire production – the world has grown more fascinated with his process. Did he really send messages to co-star Sally Field in character as Lincoln? Was it accurate that he only eat game he hunted during 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 fallen out of love with actorly excess?
Currently, Day-Lewis is back in the limelight, somewhat reluctantly, promoting his latest movie Anemone. He is taking this chance to express his anger at how method acting is viewed. “I am somewhat annoyed nowadays when I hear all kinds of people talking carelessly and saying things like ‘fully embraced the Method’, which I think suggests that someone is behaving like a lunatic in an extreme fashion,” he told a major publication. “People tends to focus on superficial aspects of acting, and those details always seem to involve some sort of self-flagellation or a situation that imposes upon oneself extreme unease or mental instability. But of course, in the life for a performer, it must mainly focus on the internal work.”
An Industry Full of Followers
Frankly, it appears like Day-Lewis has emerged from seclusion and found himself shocked by the acting community that has been created in his image. When you are widely considered one of the greatest performers in history, and your process involves headbutting a dummy to the point of injury (in Gangs of New York) or enduring 48 hours 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 fill that vacuum by trying to mimic their idol.
In other words, we exist in a landscape full of half-cocked imitators of Day-Lewis who want nothing more than to demonstrate the sheer amount of effort they invest in a character. On the milder side of the pool there are performers such as Lady Gaga, who was determined to win an Oscar for House of Gucci that she dedicated the entire promotion attempting to persuade people that she became an Italian native over 18 months as preparation.
Additionally, there is Jared Leto, who decided to deeply embed himself in the character of the Joker (for Suicide Squad) by sending “horrifying” gifts to his castmates. These items, depending on who you ask, range from deceased animals to intimate objects and used condoms, although the actor refuted those worst excesses. Then, of course, there is Jim Carrey, who went so deep into Andy Kaufman for Man on the Moon that filmmakers literally managed to get a feature-length documentary from behind-the-scenes footage of him making life as impossible as he could for everyone around him.
Contemporary Followers of the Method
The foremost Method Guy currently would appear to be Jeremy Strong (formerly Day-Lewis’s assistant), whose approach during Succession was so laboriously intensive that it became the basis of a derisive magazine feature, full of quotes from people who were either concerned about his conduct (“It’s the cost on himself concerns me,” remarked co-star Brian Cox) or annoyed beyond all measure by it (“I recall him causing others roll their eyes,” said an anonymous cast member).
The actor claims he ‘did not plan to retire, truly’
There are numerous additional cases. Andrew Garfield went celibate for six months for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio slept in an animal carcass for The Revenant. It’s quite possible that Austin Butler still speaks like Elvis Presley, three years after that film came out. All of this, in part, is meant to invoke the dedication in which Day-Lewis takes his craft.
An Admirable But Uphill Fight
Moreover, while his fightback to critics of the Method might be noble, a short publicity tour might not be enough to alter perceptions, let alone their practices. Perhaps if he wishes to make audiences recall the true essence of the Method, or to demonstrate what it can achieve, then the optimal strategy for Day-Lewis is to just begin producing additional movies. Surely everyone would support that idea.
