It has 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 work as an actor, prior to the release of The Phantom Thread, Day-Lewis withdrew from the spotlight. However, during his hiatus, his legend expanded further.
The Mythos Surrounding His Method
Primarily, this reputation revolves around his preferred approach to roles. Being an actor known for disappears into the roles he plays – for instance, during the Lincoln biopic, reportedly asked Steven Spielberg call him “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 only eat game he hunted during Last of the Mohicans? Did he insist on being spoon-fed while filming My Left Foot?
Extreme acting methods: have we fallen out of love with over-the-top performances?
Currently, Daniel Day-Lewis is back in the limelight, somewhat reluctantly, for his new film Anemone. He is using this to express his frustration regarding how method acting is viewed. “I am somewhat annoyed these days to hear various individuals talking carelessly and saying things like ‘gone full method’, which I think suggests that someone is acting insane in an extreme fashion,” he stated to the New York Times. “People tends to focus on superficial aspects of acting, and these elements typically include some sort of self-punishment or an experience that causes extreme unease or psychological strain. But of course, in the career for a performer, it has to principally be about the internal work.”
An Industry of Imitators
Frankly, it appears as if Day-Lewis has come out from his retreat only to discover aghast at the acting community that has been created mirroring his methods. When you are regarded as one of the greatest performers in history, and your process involves headbutting a dummy to the point of injury (for 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 other actors will attempt to fill that vacuum by trying to mimic your hero.
In other words, we now live in an environment populated by half-cocked Day-Lewis impersonators who strive only to show the world the sheer amount of dedication they put into their roles. On the milder side of the pool there are performers such as Lady Gaga, who was determined to earn an Academy Award for House of Gucci that she spent the whole campaign trying to convince everyone that she became functionally Italian over 18 months as preparation.
Then we have Jared Leto, who chose to immerse himself into the role of the Joker (for Suicide Squad) through sending “horrifying” presents to his castmates. These items, according to various accounts, included dead pigs and rats to intimate objects and used condoms, though Leto denied those worst excesses. Then, naturally, we have Jim Carrey, who went so deep into Andy Kaufman during Man on the Moon that they literally managed to get a full-length documentary out of B-roll of him making life as impossible as he could for everyone around him.
Contemporary Followers of the Method
The foremost practitioner of the Method at the moment seems to be Jeremy Strong (once Day-Lewis’s assistant), whose approach during Succession was so laboriously intensive that it formed the basis of a derisive New Yorker profile, full of quotes from individuals who were either concerned about his conduct (“It’s the cost on himself that worries me,” remarked co-star Brian Cox) or annoyed beyond all measure by it (“I remember [him] making others roll their eyes,” stated an anonymous cast member).
Daniel Day-Lewis says he ‘did not plan to retire, really’
There are numerous additional cases. Andrew Garfield went celibate over half a year for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio slept in an animal carcass during The Revenant. There’s a fighting chance that Austin Butler continues to talk in the style of Elvis, three years after the movie’s release. All of this, to some extent, aims to evoke the seriousness in which Day-Lewis takes his work.
An Admirable But Uphill Fight
Moreover, although his rebuttal to critics of the Method might be noble, a short publicity tour may prove insufficient to alter perceptions, not to mention their practices. Perhaps if he wants to remind people the true essence of the Method, or to show them what it can achieve, then the optimal strategy for Day-Lewis is to simply start making additional movies. Surely we could all get behind that.
