It has been a long while since the public saw or heard from Daniel Day-Lewis. After he announcement in 2017 that he would no longer pursue acting, prior to the debut of The Phantom Thread, the actor withdrew from the spotlight. Yet, during his hiatus, his reputation has only grown.
The Mythos Surrounding His Method
Largely, this reputation revolves around his favored approach to roles. As someone who famously immerses himself in the roles he plays – for example, during Lincoln, he had the director call him “Mr President” throughout the shoot – audiences has become increasingly obsessed with how he works. Did he really send messages to co-star Sally Field in character as Lincoln? Was it accurate that he consumed solely game he hunted for The Last of the Mohicans? And did he insist on receiving food via spoon while filming My Left Foot?
Extreme acting methods: has the public lost interest with over-the-top performances?
Currently, Day-Lewis is back in the limelight, somewhat reluctantly, promoting his latest movie Anemone. He is using this to vocalise his anger at how the Method technique is viewed. “I’m a little cross these days when I hear various individuals gobbling off and saying things like ‘fully embraced the 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 tends to focus on superficial details of the work, and these elements always seem to involve some sort of self-flagellation or a situation that imposes upon oneself a severe discomfort or psychological strain. 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, it appears like Day-Lewis has come out from his retreat and found himself shocked by the acting community that has developed in his image. When you are regarded as among the best performers to ever work, and your process includes striking a prop to the point of injury (in Gangs of New York) or spending 48 hours in solitary confinement without food or water (during In the Name of the Father), it’s natural that other actors will want to fill that vacuum by trying to mimic their idol.
In other words, we exist in an environment full of imperfect Day-Lewis impersonators who want nothing more than to show the world the extensive degree of effort they invest in a character. On the milder side of the pool there are performers such as Lady Gaga, who was so desperate to earn an Academy Award for House of Gucci that she dedicated the whole campaign trying to convince everyone that she transformed into an Italian native over 18 months in preparation.
Then we have Jared Leto, who decided to immerse himself in the character as the Joker (in Suicide Squad) by sending “disturbing” presents to his castmates. These, according to various accounts, included dead pigs and rats to anal beads and personal hygiene products, although Leto denied those worst excesses. And then, of course, there is Jim Carrey, who immersed himself so fully 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 causing difficulties to the utmost for everyone around him.
The Modern Method Practitioners
The foremost practitioner of the Method currently seems to be Jeremy Strong (formerly an assistant to Day-Lewis), whose approach during Succession was so laboriously intensive that it became the subject of a critical New Yorker profile, including statements from individuals who were worried for his behaviour (“The toll to himself that worries me,” remarked Brian Cox) or annoyed beyond all measure by his actions (“I remember [him] making others roll their eyes,” stated an unnamed co-star).
The actor claims he ‘never intended to retire, truly’
There are numerous additional cases. Andrew Garfield went celibate for six months for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio rested inside an animal carcass for The Revenant. There’s a fighting chance that Austin Butler continues to talk like Elvis Presley, years following that film came out. All of this, to some extent, aims to evoke the seriousness in which Day-Lewis takes his craft.
An Admirable Yet Challenging Battle
Moreover, although his rebuttal against method detractors could be commendable, a short publicity tour may prove insufficient to change anyone’s mind, not to mention their practices. Perhaps if he wishes to remind people what method acting is, or to demonstrate its potential results, then Day-Lewis’s best bet is to just begin producing more films. Surely everyone would get behind that.
