It has been quite some time since the public caught a glimpse of Daniel Day-Lewis. After he announcement in 2017 declaring he would cease to work as an actor, just before the release of Phantom Thread, the actor quietly faded from view. However, during his hiatus, his reputation expanded further.
The Legend of His Method
Primarily, this legend centers on his favored style of working. As someone known for disappears into his characters – for example, during the Lincoln biopic, he had Steven Spielberg call him “Mr President” for the entire production – audiences has grown increasingly obsessed with his process. Is it true he actually sent messages to co-star Sally Field in character as Lincoln? Did he only eat animals he’d killed during Last of the Mohicans? Did he demand receiving food via spoon for My Left Foot?
Extreme acting methods: has the public fallen out of love with actorly excess?
Currently, Daniel Day-Lewis is back in the limelight, with some hesitation, for his new film Anemone. He is using this to express his frustration regarding how method acting is perceived. “I’m a little cross these days to hear all kinds of people gobbling off and saying things like ‘gone full method’, which seems suggests that someone is behaving like a lunatic in an extreme fashion,” he stated to a major publication. “Everyone often concentrate on the less important aspects of acting, and these elements always seem to involve some sort of self-punishment or a situation that causes extreme unease or psychological strain. However, in the career for a performer, it must principally be about the inner transformation.”
A World of Imitators
Frankly, it appears as if the actor has emerged from his retreat and found himself aghast at the acting community that has been created in his image. When you are widely considered among the best performers in history, and your approach involves headbutting a dummy until you break your nose (in Gangs of New York) or enduring 48 hours in isolation deprived of sustenance (for In the Name of the Father), then it stands to reason that other actors will want to emulate that example by trying to mimic your hero.
In other words, we exist in a landscape full of imperfect Day-Lewis impersonators who strive only to demonstrate the extensive degree of effort they invest in their roles. On the milder side of the pool we have people like Lady Gaga, who was so desperate to earn an Academy Award for House of Gucci that she dedicated the whole campaign attempting to persuade people that she became functionally Italian over 18 months as preparation.
Additionally, there is Jared Leto, who chose to immerse himself into the role of the Joker (for Suicide Squad) by sending “disturbing” presents to fellow cast members. These items, depending on who you ask, included deceased animals to intimate objects and used condoms, though the actor refuted the most extreme claims. And then, naturally, we have Jim Carrey, who immersed himself so fully as Andy Kaufman for Man on the Moon that they succeeded in creating a feature-length documentary from behind-the-scenes footage of him causing difficulties as impossible as he could for his colleagues.
The Modern Followers of the Method
The main practitioner of the Method at the moment seems to be Jeremy Strong (once Day-Lewis’s assistant), whose approach while filming Succession was so laboriously intensive that it formed the subject of a derisive New Yorker profile, full of quotes from people who were worried for his behaviour (“The toll on himself that worries me,” remarked Brian Cox) or annoyed beyond all measure by his actions (“I remember him causing everyone else to react with exasperation,” stated an anonymous cast member).
Daniel Day-Lewis says he ‘did not plan to stop acting, truly’
There are so many other examples. Andrew Garfield abstained from sex over half a year for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio rested inside a dead animal during The Revenant. It’s quite possible that Austin Butler still speaks in the style of Elvis, years following that film came out. All of this, to some extent, aims to evoke the dedication with which Day-Lewis takes his work.
A Noble But Uphill Battle
Moreover, although his rebuttal against method detractors could be commendable, a brief promotional cycle may prove insufficient to change anyone’s mind, let alone their practices. Maybe if he wants to make audiences recall the true essence of the Method, or to show them what it can achieve, then Day-Lewis’s best bet is to simply begin producing more films. Certainly everyone would get behind that.
