It’s been a long while since anyone caught a glimpse of Daniel Day-Lewis. Following his announcement in 2017 that he would cease to work as an actor, just before the debut of Phantom Thread, the actor withdrew from the spotlight. However, during his hiatus, his reputation expanded further.
The Mythos of His Method
Primarily, this reputation revolves around his preferred approach to roles. Being an actor known for disappears into his characters – for example, while filming the Lincoln biopic, reportedly asked the director address him as “Mr. President” throughout the shoot – the world has become increasingly obsessed with his process. Is it true 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?
Madness in their method: have we fallen out of love with over-the-top performances?
Currently, Day-Lewis has returned to public attention, somewhat reluctantly, for his new film Anemone. And he is taking this chance to express his anger at how the Method technique is perceived. “I’m a little cross nowadays to hear all kinds of people talking carelessly and using phrases like ‘gone full method’, which seems suggests that someone is acting insane in an extreme fashion,” he told a major publication. “Everyone often concentrate on superficial aspects of acting, and these elements always seem to involve some form of self-punishment or an experience that imposes upon oneself extreme unease or psychological strain. But of course, in the career of an actor, it has to principally be about the internal work.”
A World of Imitators
To be honest, it appears as if Day-Lewis has emerged from his retreat and found himself shocked by the acting community that has been created in his image. When you are regarded as one of the greatest actors to ever work, and your process includes headbutting a dummy until you break your nose (for Gangs of New York) or spending two days in solitary confinement without food or water (for In the Name of the Father), then it stands to reason that other actors will want to emulate that example by imitating their idol.
In other words, we now live in a landscape full of imperfect Day-Lewis impersonators who want nothing more than to demonstrate the sheer amount of dedication they put into their roles. At the shallow end of the pool we have people like 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 functionally Italian for a year and a half in preparation.
Then we have Jared Leto, who decided to deeply embed himself into the role as the Joker (in Suicide Squad) through sending “disturbing” gifts to his castmates. These, according to various accounts, range from dead pigs and rats to anal beads and used condoms, though Leto denied those worst excesses. And then, naturally, there is Jim Carrey, who went so deep as Andy Kaufman for Man on the Moon that they succeeded to get a full-length documentary out of B-roll of him making life to the utmost for his colleagues.
Contemporary Method Practitioners
The foremost practitioner of the Method at the moment seems to be Jeremy Strong (formerly an assistant to Day-Lewis), whose process while filming Succession was so rigorously detailed that it became the basis of a critical New Yorker profile, full of quotes from individuals who were either concerned about his conduct (“It’s the cost to himself concerns me,” remarked co-star Brian Cox) or extremely irritated by his actions (“I recall him causing everyone else roll their eyes,” stated an anonymous cast member).
Daniel Day-Lewis says he ‘never intended to stop acting, truly’
We have so many other examples. Andrew Garfield abstained from sex over half a year 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 that film came out. All of this, in part, aims to evoke the dedication in which Day-Lewis approaches his work.
An Admirable But Uphill Battle
And, although his rebuttal to critics of the Method could be commendable, a brief promotional cycle may prove insufficient to alter perceptions, let alone their practices. Maybe if he wishes to make audiences recall what method acting is, or to show them what it can achieve, then Day-Lewis’s best bet is to just start making more films. Surely everyone would support that idea.
