It’s been quite some time since the public caught a glimpse of Daniel Day-Lewis. Following his statement in 2017 that he would no longer pursue acting, just before the debut of The Phantom Thread, the actor quietly faded from view. Yet, during his hiatus, his legend has only grown.
The Legend Surrounding His Acting Method
Primarily, this legend revolves around his preferred style of working. As someone who famously disappears into his characters – for instance, while filming Lincoln, he had Steven Spielberg call him “Mr. President” throughout the shoot – the world has grown more fascinated with his process. Is it true he actually sent messages to co-star Sally Field as Abraham Lincoln? Was it accurate that he only eat game he hunted for Last of the Mohicans? Did he insist on receiving food via spoon while filming My Left Foot?
Madness in their method: have we lost interest with over-the-top performances?
Now, Day-Lewis has returned to public attention, with some hesitation, for his new film Anemone. And he is using this to vocalise his frustration at how method acting is perceived. “I’m a little cross nowadays when I hear all kinds of people talking carelessly and using phrases like ‘gone full method’, which I think suggests that someone is behaving like a lunatic in an extreme fashion,” he stated to the New York Times. “Everyone often concentrate on the less important details of the work, and those details typically include some form of self-flagellation or a situation that causes a severe discomfort or mental instability. However, in the life for a performer, it has to principally be about the internal work.”
A World Full of Followers
To be honest, it appears as if the actor has emerged from his retreat only to discover shocked by the world that has developed in his image. When you are widely considered one of the greatest performers in history, and your process involves striking a prop to the point of injury (for Gangs of New York) or spending two days in solitary confinement without food or water (for In the Name of the Father), it’s natural that fellow performers will want to fill that vacuum by trying to mimic your hero.
In other words, we now live in an environment full of imperfect imitators of Day-Lewis who strive only to show the world the extensive degree of effort they put into their roles. At the shallow end of this trend we have people like Lady Gaga, who was determined to win an Oscar with House of Gucci that she dedicated the entire promotion trying to convince everyone that she became an Italian native over 18 months in preparation.
Then we have Jared Leto, who decided to immerse himself into the role as the Joker (for Suicide Squad) through sending “horrifying” presents to his castmates. These, according to various accounts, included dead pigs and rats to anal beads and used condoms, although Leto denied those worst excesses. And then, of course, there is Jim Carrey, who immersed himself so fully into Andy Kaufman for Man on the Moon that filmmakers succeeded to get a feature-length documentary from behind-the-scenes footage of him making life to the utmost for his colleagues.
The Modern Followers of the Method
The foremost Method Guy currently would appear to be Jeremy Strong (formerly Day-Lewis’s assistant), whose approach while filming Succession was so rigorously detailed that it formed the basis of a critical New Yorker profile, including statements from individuals who were worried about his conduct (“It’s the cost on himself that worries me,” remarked Brian Cox) or annoyed beyond all measure by his actions (“I recall [him] making others to react with exasperation,” said an unnamed co-star).
The actor claims he ‘did not plan to stop acting, really’
There are so many other examples. Andrew Garfield went celibate over half a year for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio rested inside an animal carcass during The Revenant. There’s a fighting chance that actor Austin Butler still speaks in the style of Elvis, years following the movie’s release. Each of these instances, to some extent, is meant to invoke the seriousness in which Day-Lewis approaches his work.
An Admirable But Uphill Battle
And, while his fightback to critics of the Method could be commendable, a brief promotional cycle might not be enough to change anyone’s mind, let alone their practices. Perhaps if he wants to make audiences recall the true essence of the Method, or to show them what it can achieve, then Day-Lewis’s best bet is to simply begin producing additional movies. Surely we could all support that idea.
