It’s been a long while since anyone saw or heard from the acclaimed actor Daniel Day-Lewis. Following his statement in 2017 declaring he would cease to pursue acting, just before the debut of Phantom Thread, the actor quietly faded from view. Yet, in his absence, his reputation has only grown.
The Mythos Surrounding His Acting Method
Largely, this legend centers on his preferred style of working. Being an actor who famously immerses himself in his characters – for example, during the Lincoln biopic, he had the director call him “Mr President” for the entire production – audiences has become increasingly obsessed with how he works. Did he really send texts to Sally Field as Abraham Lincoln? Was it accurate that he only eat game he hunted for Last of the Mohicans? And did he demand being spoon-fed for My Left Foot?
Madness in their method: has the public fallen out of love with over-the-top performances?
Currently, Daniel Day-Lewis is back in the limelight, with some hesitation, for his new film Anemone. And he is using this to express his frustration regarding how method acting is perceived. “I am somewhat annoyed nowadays when I hear various individuals talking carelessly and saying things like ‘gone full method’, which I think is meant to imply that a person’s acting insane in an extreme fashion,” he told the New York Times. “Everyone often concentrate on the less important aspects of acting, and those details always seem to involve some form of self-punishment or an experience that causes extreme unease or mental instability. However, in the career for a performer, it must mainly focus on the inner transformation.”
A World Full of Followers
Frankly, this sounds as if Day-Lewis has emerged from his retreat only to discover aghast at the acting community that has developed mirroring his methods. If you’re widely considered one of the greatest actors in history, and your approach includes headbutting a dummy until you break your nose (for Gangs of New York) or enduring two days in solitary confinement without food or water (during In the Name of the Father), then it stands to reason that other actors will attempt to fill that vacuum by trying to mimic their idol.
Essentially, we exist in a landscape full of imperfect imitators of Day-Lewis who want nothing more than to show the world the sheer amount of dedication they invest in a character. 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 whole campaign attempting to persuade people 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 of the Joker (for Suicide Squad) through sending “disturbing” gifts to his castmates. These, depending on who you ask, included dead pigs and rats to intimate objects and used condoms, although Leto denied the most extreme claims. Then, naturally, there is Jim Carrey, who immersed himself so fully as Andy Kaufman during Man on the Moon that they literally managed in creating a full-length documentary from behind-the-scenes footage of him making life to the utmost for his colleagues.
The Modern Followers of the Method
The foremost Method Guy at the moment would appear to be Jeremy Strong (formerly an assistant to Day-Lewis), whose approach while filming Succession was so rigorously detailed that it became the basis of a critical magazine feature, full of quotes from people who were either concerned about his conduct (“It’s the cost on himself concerns me,” remarked Brian Cox) or extremely irritated by it (“I remember him causing everyone else roll their eyes,” said an unnamed co-star).
The actor says he ‘did not plan to retire, truly’
There are numerous additional cases. Andrew Garfield abstained from sex for six months for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio rested inside a dead animal during The Revenant. There’s a fighting chance that actor Austin Butler continues to talk like Elvis Presley, years following that film came out. All of this, in part, aims to evoke the dedication in which Day-Lewis takes his work.
An Admirable But Uphill Battle
And, while his fightback to critics of the Method might be noble, a short publicity tour might not be enough to alter perceptions, not to mention their behaviour. Maybe if he wants to remind people the true essence of the Method, or to show them its potential results, then Day-Lewis’s best bet is to simply begin producing more films. Certainly we could all get behind that.
