It’s been quite some time since anyone caught a glimpse of the acclaimed actor Daniel Day-Lewis. After he statement in 2017 that he would no longer pursue acting, prior to the debut of The Phantom Thread, Day-Lewis withdrew from the spotlight. Yet, during his hiatus, his reputation expanded further.
The Mythos Surrounding His Method
Largely, this reputation centers on his preferred style of working. Being an actor who famously disappears into his characters – for instance, during the Lincoln biopic, reportedly asked the director address him as “Mr. President” throughout the shoot – the world has grown 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? And did he demand receiving food via spoon while filming My Left Foot?
Madness in their method: have we lost interest with actorly excess?
Currently, Day-Lewis has returned in the limelight, with some hesitation, for his new film Anemone. And he is taking this chance to vocalise his frustration regarding how method acting is perceived. “I am somewhat annoyed these days when I hear all kinds of people gobbling off and using phrases like ‘fully embraced the Method’, which seems is meant to imply that someone is behaving like a lunatic in a drastic way,” he told the New York Times. “People often concentrate on the less important aspects of acting, and those details typically include some sort of self-punishment or an experience that imposes upon oneself a severe discomfort or psychological strain. However, in the life of an actor, it must principally be about the internal work.”
A World Full of Followers
To be honest, it appears like the actor has emerged from his retreat only to discover aghast at the world that has been created in his image. When you are regarded as one of the greatest actors to ever work, and your approach includes striking a prop to the point of injury (in Gangs of New York) or spending 48 hours in isolation without food or water (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.
Essentially, we now live in a landscape full of imperfect imitators of Day-Lewis who want nothing more than to show the world the sheer amount of effort they put into a character. At the shallow end of the pool there are performers such as Lady Gaga, who was determined to earn an Academy Award with House of Gucci that she dedicated the entire promotion trying to convince everyone that she transformed into functionally Italian 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) through sending “horrifying” presents to his castmates. These items, depending on who you ask, range from dead pigs and rats to intimate objects and used condoms, though the actor refuted those worst excesses. And then, of course, there is Jim Carrey, who immersed himself so fully as Andy Kaufman during Man on the Moon that filmmakers succeeded in creating a full-length documentary from behind-the-scenes footage of him causing difficulties as impossible as he could for everyone around him.
Contemporary Method Practitioners
The foremost practitioner of the Method currently seems to be Jeremy Strong (formerly an assistant to Day-Lewis), 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 worried about his conduct (“It’s the cost on himself that worries me,” remarked co-star Brian Cox) or extremely irritated by it (“I recall [him] making everyone else roll their eyes,” said an unnamed co-star).
The actor claims he ‘never intended to stop acting, truly’
There are numerous additional cases. Andrew Garfield went celibate for six months while preparing for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio rested inside a dead animal for The Revenant. It’s quite possible that actor Austin Butler still speaks in the style of Elvis, three years after the movie’s release. Each of these instances, in part, is meant to invoke the dedication with which Day-Lewis takes his work.
A Noble Yet Challenging Battle
Moreover, although his rebuttal to critics of the Method could be commendable, a short publicity tour might not be enough to change anyone’s mind, not to mention their practices. Perhaps if he wants to remind people what method acting is, or to show them its potential results, then Day-Lewis’s best bet is to just begin producing more films. Surely we could all support that idea.
