It’s been quite some time since the public caught a glimpse of the acclaimed actor Daniel Day-Lewis. Following his statement in 2017 that he would cease to work as an actor, prior to the release of Phantom Thread, the actor quietly faded from view. Yet, during his hiatus, his reputation expanded further.
Primarily, this legend centers on his preferred approach to roles. Being an actor known for disappears into the roles he plays – for example, during the Lincoln biopic, reportedly asked Steven Spielberg address him as “Mr President” throughout the shoot – audiences has become more fascinated with his process. Did he actually sent messages to co-star Sally Field as Abraham Lincoln? Did he consumed solely animals he’d killed for 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 actorly excess?
Currently, Daniel Day-Lewis is back in the limelight, somewhat reluctantly, promoting his latest movie Anemone. He is using this to vocalise his anger regarding how method acting is perceived. “I’m a little cross nowadays to hear all kinds of people talking carelessly and saying things like ‘fully embraced the Method’, which I think suggests that a person’s acting insane in an extreme fashion,” he told the New York Times. “People often concentrate on the less important aspects of acting, and those details always seem to involve some form of self-punishment or an experience that imposes upon oneself a severe discomfort or mental instability. However, in the career of an actor, it must mainly focus on the internal work.”
To be honest, this sounds like the actor has emerged from seclusion and found himself shocked by the world that has been created in his image. If you’re widely considered among the best actors in history, and your process includes headbutting a dummy until you break your nose (for Gangs of New York) or enduring two days in solitary confinement deprived of sustenance (during In the Name of the Father), it’s natural that other actors will attempt to emulate that example by trying to mimic their idol.
In other words, we now live in an environment full of half-cocked Day-Lewis impersonators who want nothing more than to demonstrate the extensive degree of dedication they put into a character. At the shallow end of this trend there are performers such as Lady Gaga, who was determined to win an Oscar for House of Gucci that she spent the whole campaign attempting to persuade people that she became an Italian native for a year and a half as preparation.
Additionally, there is Jared Leto, who chose to deeply embed himself into the role as the Joker (for Suicide Squad) by sending “disturbing” presents to his castmates. These items, depending on who you ask, included deceased animals to intimate objects and personal hygiene products, though the actor refuted the most extreme claims. Then, naturally, we have Jim Carrey, who went so deep as Andy Kaufman for Man on the Moon that filmmakers 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.
The foremost practitioner of the Method currently would appear to be Jeremy Strong (once Day-Lewis’s assistant), whose process during Succession was so rigorously detailed that it became the subject of a derisive New Yorker profile, full of quotes from people 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 recall [him] making everyone else roll their eyes,” stated an unnamed co-star).
The actor claims he ‘never intended to stop acting, truly’
We have numerous additional cases. Andrew Garfield went celibate for six months while preparing for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio rested inside an animal carcass during The Revenant. It’s quite possible that actor Austin Butler continues to talk in the style of Elvis, years following the movie’s release. All of this, in part, is meant to invoke the seriousness with which Day-Lewis takes his craft.
Moreover, while his fightback to critics of the Method might be noble, a brief promotional cycle may prove insufficient to alter perceptions, let alone their behaviour. Maybe if he wishes to remind people the true essence of the Method, or to show them its potential results, then Day-Lewis’s best bet is to just start making more films. Certainly everyone would get behind that.
A seasoned journalist with over 15 years of experience covering UK politics and social trends, known for insightful commentary.
