It has been quite some time since anyone saw or heard from Daniel Day-Lewis. Following his announcement in 2017 that he would cease to work as an actor, prior to the debut of The Phantom Thread, Day-Lewis quietly faded from view. Yet, during his hiatus, his legend has only grown.
The Legend of His Method
Primarily, this reputation centers on his favored approach to roles. Being an actor known for immerses himself in the roles he plays – for instance, during Lincoln, reportedly asked Steven Spielberg call him “Mr President” for the entire production – audiences has grown more fascinated with how he works. Is it true he really send messages to co-star Sally Field as Abraham Lincoln? Did he only eat game he hunted during The Last of the Mohicans? Did he insist on receiving food via spoon for My Left Foot?
Extreme acting methods: has the public lost interest with actorly excess?
Currently, Day-Lewis has returned to public attention, with some hesitation, promoting his latest movie Anemone. And he is taking this chance to express his frustration regarding how method acting is perceived. “I’m a little cross nowadays to hear various individuals gobbling off and saying things like ‘fully embraced the Method’, which seems is meant to imply that a person’s behaving like a lunatic in a drastic way,” he stated to the New York Times. “People tends to focus on the less important aspects of acting, and these elements typically include some form of self-flagellation or an experience that imposes upon oneself extreme unease or mental instability. But of course, in the life of an actor, it must principally be about the inner transformation.”
An Industry Full of Followers
To be honest, this sounds like Day-Lewis has come out from seclusion and found himself shocked by the acting community that has been created in his image. When you are regarded as among the best performers to ever work, and your approach 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 fill that vacuum by trying to mimic your hero.
Essentially, we exist in a landscape populated by imperfect imitators of Day-Lewis who want nothing more than to show the world the sheer amount of effort they put into their roles. On the milder side of the pool we have people like Lady Gaga, who was so desperate to earn an Academy Award with House of Gucci that she spent the entire promotion trying to convince everyone that she became an Italian native for a year and a half in preparation.
Additionally, there is Jared Leto, who decided to deeply embed himself in the character as the Joker (for Suicide Squad) by sending “horrifying” gifts to fellow cast members. These, according to various accounts, range from deceased animals to anal beads and personal hygiene products, although Leto denied the most extreme claims. And then, of course, we have Jim Carrey, who immersed himself so fully into Andy Kaufman during Man on the Moon that they succeeded in creating a full-length documentary from behind-the-scenes footage of him making life to the utmost for everyone around him.
Contemporary Method Practitioners
The main practitioner of the Method currently would appear to be Jeremy Strong (formerly Day-Lewis’s assistant), whose approach during Succession was so laboriously intensive that it formed the subject of a critical magazine feature, full of quotes from individuals who were either concerned about his conduct (“The toll to himself concerns me,” remarked co-star Brian Cox) or annoyed beyond all measure by it (“I remember him causing everyone else to react with exasperation,” stated an unnamed co-star).
The actor says he ‘never intended to retire, really’
We have numerous additional cases. Andrew Garfield went celibate for six months for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio slept in a dead animal for The Revenant. It’s quite possible that Austin Butler continues to talk in the style of Elvis, years following that film came out. Each of these instances, in part, is meant to invoke the dedication with which Day-Lewis approaches his work.
An Admirable Yet Challenging Fight
And, while his fightback against method detractors might be noble, a brief promotional cycle may prove insufficient to alter perceptions, not to mention their behaviour. Maybe if he wants to remind people the true essence of the Method, or to demonstrate its potential results, then the optimal strategy for Day-Lewis is to simply begin producing additional movies. Surely we could all get behind that.
