It’s been quite some time since anyone saw or heard from Daniel Day-Lewis. After he statement in 2017 that he would no longer work as an actor, prior to the release of Phantom Thread, Day-Lewis withdrew from the spotlight. However, in his absence, his reputation has only grown.
The Legend Surrounding His Acting Method
Largely, this legend centers on his preferred approach to roles. As someone known for disappears into his characters – for example, during Lincoln, reportedly asked the director address him as “Mr President” throughout the shoot – the world has grown increasingly obsessed with his process. Is it true he actually sent texts to Sally Field in character as Lincoln? Was it accurate that he only eat animals he’d killed during Last of the Mohicans? Did he demand receiving food via spoon while filming My Left Foot?
Madness in their method: has the public fallen out of love with actorly excess?
Currently, 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’m a little cross nowadays when I hear various individuals gobbling off and saying things like ‘gone full method’, which seems suggests that someone is acting insane in a drastic way,” he told the New York Times. “People often concentrate on the less important aspects of acting, and those details always seem to involve some sort of self-punishment or an experience that imposes upon oneself extreme unease or psychological strain. However, in the life of an actor, it has to mainly focus on the inner transformation.”
A World Full of Followers
To be honest, it appears like the actor has come out from his retreat and found himself shocked by the acting community that has been created in his image. If you’re regarded as one of the greatest performers to ever work, and your approach includes striking a prop to the point of injury (in Gangs of New York) or enduring 48 hours in solitary confinement without food or water (during In the Name of the Father), then it stands to reason that fellow performers will attempt to fill that vacuum by trying to mimic your hero.
In other words, we exist in a landscape full of imperfect Day-Lewis impersonators who want nothing more than to demonstrate the extensive degree of effort they invest in a character. At the shallow end of this trend there are performers such as Lady Gaga, who was so desperate to win an Oscar with House of Gucci that she spent the entire promotion attempting to persuade people that she transformed into an Italian native for a year and a half as preparation.
Then we have Jared Leto, who chose to immerse himself into the role of the Joker (in Suicide Squad) by sending “disturbing” presents 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, we have Jim Carrey, who went so deep into Andy Kaufman for Man on the Moon that they literally managed in creating a feature-length documentary from behind-the-scenes footage of him making life as impossible as he could for his colleagues.
Contemporary Followers of the Method
The main practitioner of the Method currently would appear to be Jeremy Strong (formerly Day-Lewis’s assistant), whose approach while filming Succession was so laboriously intensive that it formed the subject of a critical New Yorker profile, full of quotes from individuals who were worried about his conduct (“The toll 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,” stated an anonymous cast member).
The actor claims he ‘never intended to retire, really’
There are numerous additional cases. Andrew Garfield went celibate over half a year while preparing for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio slept in an animal carcass for The Revenant. There’s a fighting chance that actor Austin Butler continues to talk in the style of Elvis, three years after the movie’s release. Each of these instances, in part, is meant to invoke the seriousness in which Day-Lewis takes his craft.
An Admirable Yet Challenging Fight
Moreover, although his rebuttal against method detractors might be noble, a short publicity tour might not be enough to alter perceptions, not to mention 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 just start making additional movies. Certainly everyone would support that idea.