It’s been a long while since anyone caught a glimpse of the acclaimed actor Daniel Day-Lewis. After he statement in 2017 declaring he would cease to pursue acting, just before the debut of The Phantom Thread, Day-Lewis quietly faded from view. However, during his hiatus, his reputation expanded further.
The Mythos Surrounding His Acting Method
Primarily, this legend centers on his preferred approach to roles. Being an actor known for disappears into the roles he plays – for instance, during the Lincoln biopic, reportedly asked Steven Spielberg call him “Mr President” for the entire production – the world has become increasingly obsessed with his process. Is it true he actually sent texts to Sally Field as Abraham Lincoln? Did he only eat game he hunted for Last of the Mohicans? Did he insist on being spoon-fed for My Left Foot?
Extreme acting methods: has the public lost interest with over-the-top performances?
Currently, Daniel Day-Lewis is back to public attention, somewhat reluctantly, promoting his latest movie Anemone. He is taking this chance to express his frustration regarding how method acting is perceived. “I am somewhat annoyed nowadays when I hear all kinds of people gobbling off and using phrases like ‘fully embraced the Method’, which I think is meant to imply that a person’s behaving like a lunatic in an extreme fashion,” he stated to a major publication. “Everyone often concentrate on the less important aspects of acting, and these elements always seem to involve some sort of self-punishment or a situation that causes extreme unease or mental instability. However, in the life of an actor, it has to mainly focus on the inner transformation.”
An Industry of Imitators
To be honest, this sounds like the actor has come out from his retreat and found himself aghast at the world that has developed mirroring his methods. When you are widely considered one of the greatest actors to ever work, and your approach includes headbutting a dummy until you break your nose (in Gangs of New York) or enduring 48 hours in solitary confinement deprived of sustenance (during In the Name of the Father), it’s natural that other actors will attempt to fill that vacuum by imitating your hero.
In other words, we now live in a landscape full of imperfect imitators of Day-Lewis who strive only to demonstrate the sheer amount of dedication they put into a character. At the shallow end of this trend we have people like Lady Gaga, who was so desperate to earn an Academy Award with House of Gucci that she dedicated the whole campaign trying to convince everyone that she became functionally Italian over 18 months in preparation.
Additionally, there is Jared Leto, who chose to immerse himself in the character of the Joker (for Suicide Squad) by sending “disturbing” gifts to his castmates. These, according to various accounts, included deceased animals to intimate objects and personal hygiene products, although the actor refuted those worst excesses. And then, of course, we have Jim Carrey, who went so deep as Andy Kaufman during Man on the Moon that filmmakers literally managed in creating a feature-length documentary from behind-the-scenes footage of him making life as impossible as he could for everyone around him.
Contemporary Followers of the Method
The foremost Method Guy currently would appear to be Jeremy Strong (once Day-Lewis’s assistant), whose approach during Succession was so laboriously intensive that it formed the basis of a critical New Yorker profile, full of quotes from individuals who were worried for his behaviour (“It’s the cost to himself that worries me,” said co-star Brian Cox) or extremely irritated by his actions (“I recall [him] making everyone else to react with exasperation,” stated an anonymous cast member).
Daniel Day-Lewis says he ‘never intended to retire, really’
There are so many other examples. Andrew Garfield abstained from sex for six months while preparing for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio slept in an animal carcass during The Revenant. There’s a fighting chance that actor Austin Butler still speaks in the style of Elvis, years following the movie’s release. Each of these instances, to some extent, aims to evoke the dedication with which Day-Lewis takes his craft.
A Noble But Uphill Battle
And, while his fightback to critics of the Method could be commendable, a brief promotional cycle might not be enough to alter perceptions, not to mention their behaviour. Maybe if he wishes to remind people what method acting is, or to demonstrate what it can achieve, then Day-Lewis’s best bet is to just start making additional movies. Surely everyone would support that idea.
