It has been a long while since anyone saw or heard from Daniel Day-Lewis. Following his announcement in 2017 that he would no longer pursue acting, prior to the release of Phantom Thread, the actor withdrew from the spotlight. However, in his absence, his reputation has only grown.
The Legend of His Acting Method
Largely, this legend centers on his favored approach to roles. Being an actor known for immerses himself in the roles he plays – for instance, during the Lincoln biopic, reportedly asked Steven Spielberg address him as “Mr President” throughout the shoot – the world has grown more fascinated with his process. Is it true he actually sent texts to Sally Field in character as Lincoln? Did he only eat game he hunted for Last of the Mohicans? Did he demand receiving food via spoon for My Left Foot?
Extreme acting methods: has the public fallen out of love with actorly excess?
Now, Daniel Day-Lewis has returned in the limelight, with some hesitation, promoting his latest movie Anemone. He is using this to express his frustration at how method acting is perceived. “I am somewhat annoyed nowadays when I hear various individuals gobbling off and saying things like ‘gone full method’, which I think is meant to imply that someone is behaving like a lunatic in an extreme fashion,” he stated to a major publication. “Everyone often concentrate on superficial aspects of acting, and these elements always seem to involve some form of self-flagellation or a situation that imposes upon oneself a severe discomfort or mental instability. However, in the career of an actor, it must principally be about the inner transformation.”
An Industry Full of Followers
To be honest, it appears like Day-Lewis has come out from his retreat only to discover aghast at the acting community that has been created in his image. If you’re regarded as one of the greatest performers to ever work, and your process involves striking a prop to the point of injury (for Gangs of New York) or spending 48 hours in isolation deprived of sustenance (for In the Name of the Father), then it stands to reason that fellow performers will attempt to emulate that example by imitating their idol.
In other words, 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 put into their roles. At the shallow end of this trend there are performers such as Lady Gaga, who was determined to win an Oscar for House of Gucci that she dedicated the entire promotion attempting to persuade people that she became functionally Italian for a year and a half as preparation.
Additionally, there is Jared Leto, who chose to immerse himself in the character of the Joker (for Suicide Squad) through sending “disturbing” gifts to his castmates. These, depending on who you ask, range from deceased animals to anal beads and personal hygiene products, although the actor refuted the most extreme claims. Then, naturally, we have Jim Carrey, who went so deep as Andy Kaufman during Man on the Moon that they succeeded to get a full-length documentary from behind-the-scenes footage of him making life as impossible as he could for his colleagues.
Contemporary Method Practitioners
The foremost practitioner of the Method currently seems to be Jeremy Strong (once an assistant to Day-Lewis), whose approach while filming Succession was so laboriously intensive that it became the subject of a critical New Yorker profile, full of quotes from individuals who were worried about his conduct (“It’s the cost on himself that worries me,” said co-star Brian Cox) or annoyed beyond all measure by his actions (“I remember [him] making everyone else roll their eyes,” stated an unnamed co-star).
The actor claims he ‘did not plan to retire, truly’
There are numerous additional cases. Andrew Garfield abstained from sex over half a year for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio slept in an animal carcass for The Revenant. It’s quite possible that actor Austin Butler still speaks like Elvis Presley, years following that film came out. Each of these instances, in part, aims to evoke the dedication in which Day-Lewis takes his craft.
A Noble But Uphill Battle
Moreover, although his rebuttal against method detractors might be noble, a brief promotional cycle might not be enough to change anyone’s mind, not to mention their practices. Maybe if he wants to remind people the true essence of the Method, or to show them what it can achieve, then Day-Lewis’s best bet is to simply start making more films. Surely we could all get behind that.
