It’s been a long while since anyone caught a glimpse of the acclaimed actor Daniel Day-Lewis. After he statement in 2017 declaring he would no longer pursue acting, just before the release of Phantom Thread, the actor withdrew from the spotlight. However, in his absence, his legend expanded further.
The Mythos of His Method
Primarily, this legend revolves around his favored style of working. As someone who famously immerses himself in his characters – for instance, while filming Lincoln, he had Steven Spielberg call him “Mr. President” for the entire production – audiences has grown increasingly obsessed with his process. Did he actually sent messages to co-star Sally Field as Abraham Lincoln? Was it accurate that he only eat game he hunted during Last of the Mohicans? And did he insist on being spoon-fed for My Left Foot?
Madness in their method: have we lost interest with over-the-top performances?
Currently, Daniel Day-Lewis has returned in the limelight, with some hesitation, for his new film Anemone. And he is taking this chance to express his anger regarding how method acting is viewed. “I am somewhat annoyed these days to hear all kinds of people gobbling off and using phrases like ‘fully embraced the Method’, which I think is meant to imply that a person’s acting insane in a drastic way,” he told a major publication. “Everyone often concentrate on superficial aspects of acting, and these elements typically include some sort of self-flagellation or a situation that imposes upon oneself extreme unease or mental instability. However, in the life of an actor, it must mainly focus on the inner transformation.”
An Industry of Imitators
Frankly, this sounds as if Day-Lewis has come out from seclusion only to discover shocked by the world that has developed mirroring his methods. If you’re regarded as one of the greatest performers in history, and your process includes striking a prop to the point of injury (for Gangs of New York) or enduring two days in solitary confinement deprived of sustenance (during In the Name of the Father), it’s natural that other actors will want to fill that vacuum by trying to mimic your hero.
In other words, we now live in a landscape populated by imperfect Day-Lewis impersonators who want nothing more than to demonstrate the extensive degree of effort they put into their roles. At the shallow end of the pool there are performers such as Lady Gaga, who was so desperate to earn an Academy Award with House of Gucci that she dedicated the entire promotion attempting to persuade people that she became an Italian native over 18 months as preparation.
Then we have Jared Leto, who decided to deeply embed himself in the character as the Joker (in Suicide Squad) through sending “horrifying” gifts to fellow cast members. These items, according to various accounts, included dead pigs and rats to intimate objects and personal hygiene products, though Leto denied those worst excesses. Then, of course, there is Jim Carrey, who went so deep into Andy Kaufman during Man on the Moon that they literally managed in creating a full-length documentary out of B-roll of him making life as impossible as he could for everyone around him.
Contemporary Followers of the Method
The foremost Method Guy at the moment would appear to be Jeremy Strong (formerly Day-Lewis’s assistant), whose process while filming Succession was so rigorously detailed that it became the basis of a derisive magazine feature, including statements from individuals who were worried about his conduct (“The toll on himself that worries me,” said Brian Cox) or annoyed beyond all measure by it (“I remember [him] making others roll their eyes,” said an unnamed co-star).
Daniel Day-Lewis says he ‘did not plan to retire, truly’
We have numerous additional cases. Andrew Garfield went celibate for six months while preparing for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio rested inside an animal carcass during The Revenant. There’s a fighting chance that Austin Butler still speaks in the style of Elvis, years following that film came out. All of this, in part, aims to evoke the dedication in which Day-Lewis takes his work.
A Noble Yet Challenging Fight
And, while his fightback against method detractors could be commendable, a brief promotional cycle might not be enough to alter perceptions, let alone their practices. Perhaps if he wants to make audiences recall what method acting is, or to show them what it can achieve, then the optimal strategy for Day-Lewis is to simply begin producing more films. Surely we could all support that idea.
