It’s been a long while since anyone caught a glimpse of Daniel Day-Lewis. Following his announcement in 2017 declaring he would cease to pursue acting, just before the release of Phantom Thread, the actor quietly faded from view. However, during his hiatus, his legend has only grown.
The Mythos Surrounding His Method
Largely, this legend centers on his favored style of working. Being an actor known for immerses himself in his characters – for example, while filming the Lincoln biopic, he had Steven Spielberg call him “Mr. President” for the entire production – audiences has grown more fascinated with how he works. Is it true he really send messages to co-star Sally Field as Abraham Lincoln? Did he only eat animals he’d killed during Last of the Mohicans? Did he demand receiving food via spoon for My Left Foot?
Extreme acting methods: has the public lost interest with over-the-top performances?
Now, Day-Lewis has returned in the limelight, with some hesitation, for his new film Anemone. He is taking this chance to vocalise his frustration regarding how the Method technique is perceived. “I’m a little cross nowadays to hear all kinds of people gobbling off and saying things like ‘gone full method’, which I think is meant to imply that someone is acting insane in an extreme fashion,” he stated to the New York Times. “Everyone tends to focus on superficial aspects of acting, and these elements typically include some form of self-flagellation or a situation that imposes upon oneself a severe discomfort or psychological strain. However, in the career of an actor, it must mainly focus on the internal work.”
A World Full of Followers
Frankly, this sounds like Day-Lewis has emerged from his retreat only to discover aghast at the acting community that has developed mirroring his methods. If you’re widely considered one of the greatest 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 deprived of sustenance (during In the Name of the Father), then it stands to reason that fellow performers will attempt to emulate that example by imitating your hero.
Essentially, we now live in an environment populated by half-cocked Day-Lewis impersonators who want nothing more than to show the world the extensive degree of dedication they put into a character. On the milder side of this trend we have people like Lady Gaga, who was determined to earn an Academy Award with House of Gucci that she dedicated the entire promotion attempting to persuade people that she became functionally Italian for a year and a half in preparation.
Additionally, there is Jared Leto, who chose to deeply embed himself in the character of the Joker (in Suicide Squad) by sending “disturbing” gifts to fellow cast members. These, depending on who you ask, included dead pigs and rats to anal beads and used condoms, although Leto denied the most extreme claims. Then, of course, there is Jim Carrey, who went so deep as Andy Kaufman for Man on the Moon that they literally managed in creating a feature-length documentary out of B-roll of him causing difficulties as impossible as he could for everyone around him.
The Modern Method Practitioners
The main practitioner of the Method currently seems to be Jeremy Strong (formerly Day-Lewis’s assistant), whose approach during Succession was so laboriously intensive that it became the subject of a derisive magazine feature, including statements from people who were either concerned about his conduct (“It’s the cost on himself concerns me,” said co-star Brian Cox) or annoyed beyond all measure by it (“I remember him causing everyone else roll their eyes,” said an anonymous cast member).
The actor claims he ‘did not plan to retire, truly’
We have so many other examples. Andrew Garfield went celibate over half a year for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio slept in a dead animal during The Revenant. There’s a fighting chance that actor Austin Butler continues to talk like Elvis Presley, years following the movie’s release. All of this, in part, is meant to invoke the dedication in which Day-Lewis takes his craft.
A Noble But Uphill Fight
And, while his fightback to critics of the Method could be commendable, a brief promotional cycle might not be enough to change anyone’s mind, let alone their practices. Maybe if he wants to remind people the true essence of the Method, or to demonstrate what it can achieve, then Day-Lewis’s best bet is to just begin producing more films. Surely we could all support that idea.
