It’s been a long while since the public saw or heard from the acclaimed actor Daniel Day-Lewis. After he announcement in 2017 declaring he would cease to pursue acting, just before the release of The Phantom Thread, the actor withdrew from the spotlight. However, in his absence, his legend expanded further.
The Mythos of His Method
Primarily, this reputation centers on his favored style of working. Being an actor known for disappears into the roles he plays – for example, while filming Lincoln, reportedly asked Steven Spielberg call him “Mr President” throughout the shoot – audiences has grown more fascinated with his process. Did he really send texts to Sally Field in character as Lincoln? Did he consumed solely game he hunted for Last of the Mohicans? Did he insist on being spoon-fed for My Left Foot?
Extreme acting methods: has the public fallen out of love with actorly excess?
Currently, Day-Lewis has returned in the limelight, somewhat reluctantly, promoting his latest movie Anemone. And he is taking this chance to express his anger regarding how the Method technique is perceived. “I am somewhat annoyed these days to hear all kinds of people gobbling off and using phrases like ‘gone full method’, which seems is meant to imply that someone is acting insane in a drastic way,” he told the New York Times. “Everyone tends to focus on superficial aspects of acting, and these elements always seem to involve some form of self-flagellation or a situation that causes a severe discomfort or mental instability. But of course, in the career for a performer, it must principally be about the inner transformation.”
A World Full of Followers
To be honest, this sounds as if Day-Lewis has come out from his retreat only to discover aghast at the world that has developed in his image. When you are regarded as one of the greatest actors in history, and your process includes striking a prop until you break your nose (for Gangs of New York) or enduring 48 hours in isolation without food or water (for In the Name of the Father), then it stands to reason that other actors will want to fill that vacuum by imitating your hero.
Essentially, we now live in a landscape populated by half-cocked imitators of Day-Lewis who strive only to show the world the sheer amount of effort they invest in a character. At the shallow end of this trend there are performers such as Lady Gaga, who was determined to earn an Academy Award with House of Gucci that she dedicated the whole campaign trying to convince everyone that she became functionally Italian over 18 months in preparation.
Then we have Jared Leto, who chose to deeply embed himself in the character as the Joker (for Suicide Squad) through sending “disturbing” presents to his castmates. These, depending on who you ask, included dead pigs and rats to anal beads and used condoms, though Leto denied the most extreme claims. And then, of course, we have Jim Carrey, who went so deep into Andy Kaufman during Man on the Moon that filmmakers succeeded in creating a full-length documentary from behind-the-scenes footage of him causing difficulties as impossible as he could for everyone around him.
Contemporary Followers of the Method
The main practitioner of the Method at the moment would appear to be Jeremy Strong (once an assistant to Day-Lewis), whose approach while filming Succession was so rigorously detailed that it became the subject of a critical New Yorker profile, including statements from people who were either concerned about his conduct (“The toll to himself that worries me,” said co-star Brian Cox) or annoyed beyond all measure by his actions (“I remember him causing others roll their eyes,” stated an anonymous cast member).
Daniel Day-Lewis claims he ‘did not plan to retire, truly’
We have so many other examples. Andrew Garfield abstained from sex over half a year while preparing for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio rested inside an animal carcass during The Revenant. There’s a fighting chance that actor Austin Butler continues to talk like Elvis Presley, three years after the movie’s release. Each of these instances, in part, is meant to invoke the dedication with which Day-Lewis approaches his work.
An Admirable Yet Challenging Battle
And, although his rebuttal to critics of the Method could be commendable, a short publicity tour may prove insufficient to alter perceptions, not to mention their behaviour. Maybe if he wishes to remind people what method acting is, or to show them what it can achieve, then Day-Lewis’s best bet is to simply start making more films. Surely we could all support that idea.
