It’s been quite some time since anyone caught a glimpse of the acclaimed actor Daniel Day-Lewis. Following his announcement in 2017 that he would no longer work as an actor, prior to the debut of Phantom Thread, Day-Lewis withdrew from the spotlight. Yet, during his hiatus, his legend expanded further.
The Legend of His Acting Method
Largely, this legend centers on his preferred style of working. As someone known for disappears into the roles he plays – for example, while filming the Lincoln biopic, reportedly asked the director call him “Mr. President” throughout the shoot – the world has grown more fascinated with his process. Did he actually sent messages to co-star Sally Field as Abraham Lincoln? Was it accurate that he consumed solely animals he’d killed for The Last of the Mohicans? And did he insist on being spoon-fed for My Left Foot?
Madness in their method: has the public fallen out of love with over-the-top performances?
Currently, Day-Lewis has returned in the limelight, somewhat reluctantly, for his new film Anemone. He is taking this chance to express his anger at how the Method technique is viewed. “I’m a little cross these days to hear various individuals gobbling off and saying things like ‘gone full method’, which I think is meant to imply that a person’s behaving like a lunatic in a drastic way,” he told a major publication. “Everyone tends to focus on superficial details of the work, and these elements typically include some form of self-flagellation or a situation that causes a severe discomfort or psychological strain. However, in the life of an actor, it has to principally be about the inner transformation.”
An Industry of Imitators
Frankly, it appears as if the actor has emerged from his retreat and found himself shocked by the world that has been created mirroring his methods. When you are regarded as one of the greatest actors to ever work, and your approach involves 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 attempt to fill that vacuum by trying to mimic their idol.
Essentially, we now live in an environment full of half-cocked imitators of Day-Lewis who want nothing more than to demonstrate the extensive degree of dedication they put into a character. At the shallow end of this trend there are performers such as Lady Gaga, who was so desperate to earn an Academy Award for House of Gucci that she spent the entire promotion attempting to persuade people that she became an Italian native for a year and a half as preparation.
Then we have Jared Leto, who decided to deeply embed himself into the role of the Joker (for Suicide Squad) through sending “horrifying” presents to his castmates. These items, depending on who you ask, included dead pigs and rats to intimate objects and personal hygiene products, though Leto denied the most extreme claims. Then, of course, we have Jim Carrey, who immersed himself so fully as Andy Kaufman during Man on the Moon that they literally managed to get a full-length documentary from behind-the-scenes footage of him causing difficulties to the utmost for his colleagues.
Contemporary Method Practitioners
The main Method Guy at the moment would appear to be Jeremy Strong (once an assistant to Day-Lewis), whose approach during Succession was so laboriously intensive that it became the subject of a critical New Yorker profile, including statements from individuals who were worried for his behaviour (“The toll to himself concerns me,” remarked co-star Brian Cox) or annoyed beyond all measure by his actions (“I recall [him] making everyone else to react with exasperation,” stated an anonymous cast member).
The actor claims 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 slept in an animal carcass during The Revenant. There’s a fighting chance that actor Austin Butler still speaks like Elvis Presley, three years after that film came out. All of this, to some extent, aims to evoke the dedication in which Day-Lewis approaches his craft.
A Noble But Uphill Battle
And, while his fightback against method detractors might be noble, a short publicity tour may prove insufficient to change anyone’s mind, let alone their behaviour. Maybe if he wants to remind people what method acting is, or to show them what it can achieve, then Day-Lewis’s best bet is to just begin producing more films. Surely we could all support that idea.
