It has been quite some time since the public caught a glimpse of Daniel Day-Lewis. After he announcement in 2017 declaring he would no longer pursue acting, prior to the debut of The Phantom Thread, the actor quietly faded from view. However, in his absence, his reputation expanded further.
The Mythos Surrounding His Method
Primarily, this legend centers on his favored approach to roles. Being an actor known for disappears into his characters – for example, while filming Lincoln, he had Steven Spielberg address him as “Mr President” throughout the shoot – the world has grown more fascinated with his process. Did he actually sent texts to Sally Field in character as Lincoln? Did he only eat game he hunted during The Last of the Mohicans? And did he insist on receiving food via spoon for My Left Foot?
Madness in their method: have we lost interest 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 taking this chance to express his anger regarding how method acting is viewed. “I am somewhat annoyed these days when I hear all kinds of people talking carelessly and using phrases like ‘fully embraced the Method’, which seems is meant to imply that someone is acting insane in an extreme fashion,” he told a major publication. “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 extreme unease or psychological strain. However, in the life for a performer, it must principally be about the internal work.”
A World of Imitators
Frankly, it appears as if Day-Lewis has emerged from seclusion only to discover shocked by the world that has developed mirroring his methods. When you are regarded as one of the greatest actors to ever work, and your process involves headbutting a dummy until you break your nose (for Gangs of New York) or spending two days in isolation without food or water (during In the Name of the Father), then it stands to reason that fellow performers will want to fill that vacuum by trying to mimic their idol.
In other words, we now live in a landscape full of half-cocked Day-Lewis impersonators who want nothing more than to demonstrate the sheer amount of dedication they invest in a character. At the shallow end 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 spent the entire promotion attempting to persuade people that she transformed into functionally Italian over 18 months in preparation.
Then we have Jared Leto, who chose to immerse himself into the role as the Joker (in Suicide Squad) by sending “disturbing” presents to fellow cast members. These items, according to various accounts, included dead pigs and rats to anal beads and personal hygiene products, though the actor refuted the most extreme claims. Then, naturally, there is Jim Carrey, who went so deep as Andy Kaufman during Man on the Moon that filmmakers literally managed to get a full-length documentary out of B-roll of him causing difficulties as impossible as he could for everyone around him.
The Modern Method Practitioners
The foremost practitioner of the Method currently seems to be Jeremy Strong (once Day-Lewis’s assistant), whose approach while filming Succession was so rigorously detailed that it formed the basis of a critical New Yorker profile, including statements from individuals who were either concerned about his conduct (“The toll to himself concerns me,” said co-star Brian Cox) or annoyed beyond all measure by it (“I remember him causing others roll their eyes,” stated an anonymous cast member).
The actor claims he ‘never intended to stop acting, truly’
There are numerous additional cases. Andrew Garfield abstained from sex over half a year while preparing for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio slept in a dead animal for The Revenant. It’s quite possible that Austin Butler still speaks like Elvis Presley, years following that film came out. Each of these instances, to some extent, is meant to invoke the dedication with which Day-Lewis takes his work.
An Admirable But Uphill Battle
And, while his fightback against method detractors could be commendable, a short publicity tour may prove insufficient to alter perceptions, let alone their practices. Perhaps if he wants to remind people the true essence of the Method, or to demonstrate what it can achieve, then the optimal strategy for Day-Lewis is to simply begin producing more films. Certainly we could all support that idea.
