It’s been quite some time since the public saw or heard from Daniel Day-Lewis. After he announcement in 2017 declaring he would no longer work as an actor, prior to the release of The Phantom Thread, Day-Lewis quietly faded from view. However, during his hiatus, his reputation expanded further.
The Mythos Surrounding His Method
Largely, this legend centers on his favored style of working. As someone known for disappears into his characters – for instance, while filming the Lincoln biopic, he had the director address him as “Mr. President” for the entire production – the world has grown increasingly obsessed with how he works. Is it true he actually sent texts to Sally Field as Abraham Lincoln? Was it accurate that he only eat animals he’d killed for The Last of the Mohicans? Did he insist on receiving food via spoon while filming My Left Foot?
Extreme acting methods: has the public fallen out of love with actorly excess?
Now, Day-Lewis is back to public attention, with some hesitation, for his new film Anemone. He is using this to vocalise his anger regarding how the Method technique is perceived. “I am somewhat annoyed these days to hear all kinds of people talking carelessly and saying things like ‘fully embraced the Method’, which seems is meant to imply that someone is behaving like a lunatic in an extreme fashion,” he told a major publication. “Everyone often concentrate on the less important aspects of acting, and those details always seem to involve some sort of self-flagellation or a situation that causes a severe discomfort or mental instability. But of course, in the career of an actor, it has to principally be about the inner transformation.”
An Industry Full of Followers
To be honest, this sounds like the actor has come out from seclusion and found himself aghast at the acting community that has developed in his image. If you’re widely considered among the best actors to ever work, and your process involves striking a prop until you break your nose (for Gangs of New York) or spending 48 hours in solitary confinement without food or water (for In the Name of the Father), then it stands to reason that fellow performers will want to emulate that example by imitating their idol.
In other words, we exist in a landscape populated by imperfect Day-Lewis impersonators who strive only to show the world the extensive degree of dedication they put into their roles. On the milder side of this trend 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 transformed into an Italian native for a year and a half in preparation.
Then we have Jared Leto, who chose to deeply embed himself into the role of the Joker (in Suicide Squad) by sending “horrifying” gifts to fellow cast members. These, according to various accounts, range from deceased animals to intimate objects and personal hygiene products, though the actor refuted those worst excesses. And then, naturally, we have Jim Carrey, who immersed himself so fully as Andy Kaufman for Man on the Moon that filmmakers succeeded in creating a feature-length documentary from behind-the-scenes footage of him making life to the utmost for everyone around him.
The Modern Method Practitioners
The main practitioner of the Method at the moment would appear to be Jeremy Strong (formerly Day-Lewis’s assistant), whose process while filming Succession was so laboriously intensive that it became the subject of a derisive New Yorker profile, full of quotes from individuals who were worried about his conduct (“The toll on himself that worries me,” remarked co-star Brian Cox) or annoyed beyond all measure by it (“I remember him causing others to react with exasperation,” stated an unnamed co-star).
The actor says he ‘never intended 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. It’s quite possible that actor Austin Butler still speaks in the style of Elvis, three years after that film came out. Each of these instances, in part, aims to evoke the dedication with which Day-Lewis approaches his craft.
An Admirable But Uphill Battle
And, while his fightback to critics of the Method might be noble, a brief promotional cycle might not be enough to change anyone’s mind, let alone their practices. Perhaps if he wants to make audiences recall the true essence of the Method, or to show them what it can achieve, then the optimal strategy for Day-Lewis is to just start making additional movies. Certainly everyone would support that idea.
