It has been quite some time since the public saw or heard from the acclaimed actor Daniel Day-Lewis. Following his announcement in 2017 declaring he would no longer work as an actor, prior to the debut of The Phantom Thread, Day-Lewis quietly faded from view. However, during his hiatus, his reputation has only grown.
The Legend of His Method
Primarily, this reputation centers on his preferred approach to roles. Being an actor known for immerses himself in the roles he plays – for instance, while filming the Lincoln biopic, reportedly asked Steven Spielberg call him “Mr. President” for the entire production – the world has become increasingly obsessed with how he works. Is it true he really send texts to Sally Field in character as Lincoln? Was it accurate that he consumed solely game he hunted during Last of the Mohicans? And did he insist on being spoon-fed for My Left Foot?
Madness in their method: have we fallen out of love with over-the-top performances?
Currently, Daniel Day-Lewis has returned to public attention, somewhat reluctantly, promoting his latest movie Anemone. And he is using this to express his anger regarding how method acting is perceived. “I’m a little cross these days to hear all kinds of people talking carelessly and saying things like ‘gone full method’, which seems is meant to imply that a person’s acting insane in an extreme fashion,” he told a major publication. “People tends to focus on superficial details of the work, and those details typically include some form of self-flagellation or a situation that causes a severe discomfort or mental instability. But of course, in the career for a performer, it has to principally be about the internal work.”
An Industry Full of Followers
To be honest, this sounds as if the actor has come out from seclusion and found himself shocked by the acting community that has developed mirroring his methods. When you are regarded as among the best actors in history, and your approach involves headbutting a dummy until you break your nose (for Gangs of New York) or spending 48 hours in solitary confinement deprived of sustenance (during In the Name of the Father), it’s natural that fellow performers will attempt to fill that vacuum by trying to mimic their idol.
Essentially, we exist in a landscape populated by half-cocked imitators of Day-Lewis who strive only to show the world the sheer amount of dedication they put into their roles. On the milder side of this trend there are performers such as Lady Gaga, who was so desperate to earn an Academy Award with House of Gucci that she dedicated the whole campaign attempting to persuade people that she became an Italian native for a year and a half as preparation.
Then we have Jared Leto, who decided to immerse himself in the character of the Joker (for Suicide Squad) by sending “disturbing” gifts to his castmates. These, according to various accounts, range from deceased animals to intimate objects and used condoms, although the actor refuted those worst excesses. Then, of course, we have Jim Carrey, who went so deep into Andy Kaufman for Man on the Moon that filmmakers literally managed in creating a full-length documentary out of B-roll of him causing difficulties to the utmost for everyone around him.
Contemporary Followers of the Method
The foremost Method Guy at the moment would appear to be Jeremy Strong (formerly Day-Lewis’s assistant), whose approach while filming Succession was so laboriously intensive that it formed the basis of a derisive New Yorker profile, including statements from people who were worried for his behaviour (“It’s the cost on himself concerns me,” remarked Brian Cox) or extremely irritated by his actions (“I remember [him] making others roll their eyes,” said an unnamed co-star).
The actor claims he ‘did not plan to retire, really’
We have so many other examples. Andrew Garfield went celibate over half a year while preparing for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio rested inside a dead animal for The Revenant. It’s quite possible that actor Austin Butler still speaks like Elvis Presley, three years after that film came out. Each of these instances, to some extent, is meant to invoke the dedication with which Day-Lewis takes his work.
A Noble Yet Challenging Fight
Moreover, while his fightback to critics of the Method might be noble, a brief promotional cycle may prove insufficient to alter perceptions, let alone their practices. Perhaps if he wishes to make audiences recall the true essence of the Method, or to demonstrate its potential results, then the optimal strategy for Day-Lewis is to just begin producing more films. Certainly everyone would get behind that.
