It’s been quite some time since anyone saw or heard from the acclaimed actor Daniel Day-Lewis. After he announcement in 2017 declaring he would no longer pursue acting, prior to the debut of The Phantom Thread, Day-Lewis withdrew from the spotlight. However, in his absence, his legend expanded further.
The Legend Surrounding His Method
Primarily, this reputation centers on his favored approach to roles. Being an actor who famously disappears into the roles he plays – for instance, while filming the Lincoln biopic, reportedly asked the director address him as “Mr. President” for the entire production – the world has become increasingly obsessed with his process. Is it true he really send texts to Sally Field in character as Lincoln? Was it accurate that he consumed solely animals he’d killed for The Last of the Mohicans? Did he insist on receiving food via spoon for My Left Foot?
Madness in their method: 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 using this to express his frustration regarding how method acting is perceived. “I am somewhat annoyed these days to hear various individuals talking carelessly and saying things like ‘fully embraced the Method’, which seems suggests that someone is acting insane in a drastic way,” he told the New York Times. “People tends to focus on the less important details of the work, and these elements typically include some form of self-punishment or an experience that causes extreme unease or mental instability. However, in the life of an actor, it must mainly focus on the inner transformation.”
A World of Imitators
Frankly, this sounds like Day-Lewis has come out from his retreat only to discover aghast at the acting community that has developed in his image. When you are widely considered among the best actors in history, and your process includes striking a prop to the point of injury (in Gangs of New York) or spending two days in isolation deprived of sustenance (during In the Name of the Father), it’s natural that fellow performers will want to emulate that example by imitating your hero.
In other words, we exist in an environment full of half-cocked Day-Lewis impersonators who strive only to demonstrate the sheer amount of dedication they invest in a character. On the milder side of this trend 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 trying to convince everyone that she became an Italian native over 18 months in preparation.
Then we have Jared Leto, who chose to deeply embed himself into the role as the Joker (for Suicide Squad) through sending “disturbing” presents to his castmates. These, depending on who you ask, range from dead pigs and rats to intimate objects and personal hygiene products, though the actor refuted those worst excesses. Then, naturally, we have Jim Carrey, who went so deep as Andy Kaufman for Man on the Moon that filmmakers literally managed in creating a full-length documentary out of B-roll of him making life to the utmost for his colleagues.
The Modern Followers of the Method
The main practitioner of the Method at the moment would appear to be Jeremy Strong (once Day-Lewis’s assistant), whose process during Succession was so laboriously intensive that it became the basis of a critical New Yorker profile, including statements from people who were worried about his conduct (“The toll on himself that worries me,” said co-star Brian Cox) or extremely irritated by his actions (“I remember [him] making others roll their eyes,” said an unnamed co-star).
The actor claims he ‘never intended to retire, truly’
We have numerous additional cases. Andrew Garfield went celibate for six months while preparing for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio slept in a dead animal during The Revenant. There’s a fighting chance that actor Austin Butler still speaks like Elvis Presley, years following the movie’s release. All of this, to some extent, is meant to invoke the dedication with which Day-Lewis approaches his work.
An Admirable Yet Challenging Fight
Moreover, although his rebuttal against method detractors might be noble, a brief promotional cycle may prove insufficient to alter perceptions, let alone their behaviour. Maybe if he wants to make audiences recall the true essence of the Method, or to demonstrate its potential results, then Day-Lewis’s best bet is to just start making additional movies. Surely we could all get behind that.
