It’s been quite some time since the public saw or heard from the acclaimed actor Daniel Day-Lewis. After he statement in 2017 that he would cease to pursue acting, prior to the release of The Phantom Thread, the actor withdrew from the spotlight. Yet, in his absence, his reputation has only grown.
The Mythos of His Method
Primarily, this legend revolves around his favored approach to roles. Being an actor known for disappears into the roles he plays – for example, during Lincoln, he had the director call him “Mr. President” throughout the shoot – the world has grown increasingly obsessed with how he works. Did he really send texts to Sally Field as Abraham Lincoln? Was it accurate that he only eat game he hunted for The Last of the Mohicans? Did he demand being spoon-fed for My Left Foot?
Extreme acting methods: have we lost interest with over-the-top performances?
Now, Day-Lewis is back to public attention, somewhat reluctantly, promoting his latest movie Anemone. And he is using this to vocalise his frustration at how the Method technique is viewed. “I am somewhat annoyed nowadays to hear various individuals gobbling off and saying things like ‘fully embraced the Method’, which seems suggests that someone is behaving like a lunatic in an extreme fashion,” he told the New York Times. “Everyone often concentrate on the less important details of the work, and those details always seem to involve some form of self-punishment or a situation that imposes upon oneself extreme unease or psychological strain. But of course, in the life for a performer, it has to principally be about the internal work.”
A World Full of Followers
To be honest, this sounds as if Day-Lewis has emerged from his retreat only to discover aghast at the world that has been created in his image. If you’re widely considered among the best actors in history, and your approach includes striking a prop to the point of injury (in Gangs of New York) or spending two days in isolation deprived of sustenance (for In the Name of the Father), then it stands to reason that other actors will want to emulate that example by trying to mimic their idol.
In other words, we now live in a landscape full of half-cocked imitators of Day-Lewis who strive only to show the world the extensive degree of dedication they put into their roles. At the shallow end of the pool there are performers such as Lady Gaga, who was so desperate to earn an Academy Award with House of Gucci that she dedicated the entire promotion trying to convince everyone that she became functionally Italian over 18 months as preparation.
Additionally, there is Jared Leto, who decided to deeply embed himself in the character of the Joker (in Suicide Squad) by sending “horrifying” presents to fellow cast members. These items, depending on who you ask, included deceased animals to intimate objects and used condoms, although Leto denied the most extreme claims. And then, naturally, we have Jim Carrey, who immersed himself so fully 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 main Method Guy currently seems to be Jeremy Strong (formerly Day-Lewis’s assistant), whose approach during Succession was so rigorously detailed that it formed the basis of a critical magazine feature, 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 his actions (“I recall [him] making others roll their eyes,” stated an anonymous cast member).
Daniel Day-Lewis claims he ‘did not plan to retire, truly’
There are so many other examples. Andrew Garfield went celibate for six months for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio rested inside an animal carcass for The Revenant. It’s quite possible that Austin Butler still speaks in the style of Elvis, three years after that film came out. Each of these instances, in part, aims to evoke the seriousness with which Day-Lewis approaches his work.
An Admirable Yet Challenging Fight
And, while his fightback to critics of the Method might be noble, a brief promotional cycle might not be enough to alter perceptions, let alone their practices. Perhaps if he wants to make audiences recall what method acting is, or to demonstrate its potential results, then Day-Lewis’s best bet is to just start making more films. Surely everyone would get behind that.
