It has been quite some time since the public caught a glimpse of Daniel Day-Lewis. After he statement in 2017 that he would cease to pursue acting, prior to the debut of Phantom Thread, the actor quietly faded from view. However, during his hiatus, his reputation has only grown.
The Legend Surrounding His Method
Largely, this legend centers on his favored style of working. Being an actor who famously disappears into his characters – for instance, during the Lincoln biopic, he had the director address him as “Mr. President” throughout the shoot – the world has grown more fascinated with how he works. Is it true he really send messages to co-star Sally Field in character as Lincoln? Was it accurate that he only eat animals he’d killed for The Last of the Mohicans? Did he demand being spoon-fed while filming My Left Foot?
Extreme acting methods: have we lost interest with actorly excess?
Currently, Daniel Day-Lewis has returned in the limelight, with some hesitation, for his new film Anemone. And he is using this to express his anger at how the Method technique is viewed. “I am somewhat annoyed these days when I hear all kinds of people talking carelessly and saying things like ‘gone full method’, which seems is meant to imply that a person’s behaving like a lunatic in a drastic way,” he stated to a major publication. “People tends to focus on superficial aspects of acting, and these elements typically include some sort of self-punishment or a situation that imposes upon oneself extreme unease or psychological strain. However, in the life of an actor, it must mainly focus on the internal work.”
An Industry of Imitators
Frankly, this sounds as if Day-Lewis has emerged from his retreat only to discover aghast at the world that has been created in his image. If you’re widely considered among the best actors to ever work, and your approach involves headbutting a dummy until you break your nose (for Gangs of New York) or spending two days in solitary confinement without food or water (during In the Name of the Father), then it stands to reason that fellow performers will want to emulate that example by trying to mimic their idol.
Essentially, we now live in an environment populated by half-cocked imitators of Day-Lewis who strive only to show the world the extensive degree of effort they invest in a character. At the shallow end of the pool we have people like Lady Gaga, who was so desperate to win an Oscar with House of Gucci that she spent the whole campaign trying to convince everyone that she became an Italian native for a year and a half in preparation.
Then we have Jared Leto, who chose to immerse himself into the role as the Joker (for Suicide Squad) by sending “disturbing” gifts to his castmates. These items, depending on who you ask, range from deceased animals to intimate objects and used condoms, although the actor refuted those worst excesses. Then, of course, there is Jim Carrey, who went so deep as Andy Kaufman during Man on the Moon that filmmakers literally managed to get a full-length documentary from behind-the-scenes footage of him causing difficulties as impossible as he could for everyone around him.
Contemporary Method Practitioners
The main practitioner of the Method at the moment seems to be Jeremy Strong (formerly Day-Lewis’s assistant), whose process during Succession was so rigorously detailed that it became the subject of a derisive New Yorker profile, full of quotes from individuals who were worried for his behaviour (“It’s the cost on himself that worries me,” remarked co-star Brian Cox) or extremely irritated by his actions (“I remember him causing everyone else roll their eyes,” stated an unnamed co-star).
The actor claims he ‘never intended to retire, really’
There are numerous additional cases. Andrew Garfield abstained from sex over half a year while preparing for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio rested inside a dead animal during The Revenant. It’s quite possible that Austin Butler continues to talk like Elvis Presley, years following that film came out. All of this, to some extent, is meant to invoke the dedication with which Day-Lewis approaches his craft.
A Noble But Uphill Fight
And, while his fightback to critics of the Method could be commendable, a short publicity tour may prove insufficient to change anyone’s mind, not to mention their behaviour. Perhaps if he wants to remind people what method acting is, 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.
