It has been a long while since the public caught a glimpse of Daniel Day-Lewis. Following his announcement in 2017 that he would cease to work as an actor, just before the release of Phantom Thread, Day-Lewis quietly faded from view. However, during his hiatus, his reputation has only grown.
The Mythos Surrounding His Method
Largely, this reputation revolves around his preferred approach to roles. Being an actor who famously immerses himself in the roles he plays – for instance, during Lincoln, he had the director call him “Mr. President” throughout the shoot – audiences has grown increasingly obsessed with his process. Did he actually sent messages to co-star Sally Field in character as Lincoln? Was it accurate that he consumed solely animals he’d killed during The Last of the Mohicans? And did he insist on being spoon-fed while filming My Left Foot?
Extreme acting methods: have we fallen out of love with actorly excess?
Now, Daniel Day-Lewis has returned in the limelight, somewhat reluctantly, for his new film Anemone. And he is using this to express his frustration at how the Method technique is perceived. “I’m a little cross nowadays when I hear various individuals talking carelessly and using phrases like ‘fully embraced the Method’, which I think is meant to imply that a person’s behaving like a lunatic in a drastic way,” he stated to a major publication. “People often concentrate on superficial aspects of acting, and those details always seem to involve some sort of self-punishment or a situation that causes a severe discomfort or psychological strain. However, in the life for a performer, it must mainly focus on the inner transformation.”
An Industry Full of Followers
To be honest, it appears like Day-Lewis has come out from seclusion only to discover aghast at the world that has been created in his image. When you are widely considered among the best actors to ever work, and your approach 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 (during In the Name of the Father), it’s natural that other actors will want to emulate that example by trying to mimic your hero.
In other words, we exist in an environment populated by half-cocked imitators of Day-Lewis who want nothing more than to demonstrate the sheer amount of effort they invest in their roles. On the milder side of the pool there are performers such as Lady Gaga, who was determined to earn an Academy Award for House of Gucci that she spent the entire promotion trying to convince everyone that she became functionally Italian over 18 months as preparation.
Then we have Jared Leto, who decided to immerse himself into the role as the Joker (in Suicide Squad) through sending “disturbing” gifts to his castmates. These items, depending on who you ask, range from deceased animals to intimate objects and personal hygiene products, though Leto denied the most extreme claims. And then, of course, there is Jim Carrey, who went so deep as Andy Kaufman for Man on the Moon that they succeeded in creating a full-length documentary from behind-the-scenes footage of him making life as impossible as he could for everyone around him.
Contemporary Method Practitioners
The foremost Method Guy at the moment seems to be Jeremy Strong (formerly an assistant to Day-Lewis), whose process during Succession was so laboriously intensive that it became the subject of a derisive magazine feature, 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 it (“I recall him causing others roll their eyes,” stated an unnamed co-star).
The actor says he ‘never intended to stop acting, really’
There are so many other examples. Andrew Garfield abstained from sex over half a year while preparing for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio slept in an animal carcass during The Revenant. There’s a fighting chance that Austin Butler continues to talk like Elvis Presley, three years after the movie’s release. Each of these instances, to some extent, is meant to invoke the seriousness in which Day-Lewis takes his work.
An Admirable Yet Challenging Battle
And, while his fightback against method detractors could be commendable, a brief promotional cycle might not be enough to change anyone’s mind, not to mention their behaviour. Perhaps if he wishes to make audiences recall the true essence of the Method, or to demonstrate its potential results, then Day-Lewis’s best bet is to just begin producing more films. Certainly everyone would get behind that.
