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 no longer work as an actor, prior to the release of The Phantom Thread, the actor withdrew from the spotlight. Yet, in his absence, his reputation has only grown.
The Mythos Surrounding His Method
Primarily, this legend revolves around his favored style of working. As someone who famously disappears into his characters – for instance, while filming the Lincoln biopic, reportedly asked Steven Spielberg address him as “Mr President” throughout the shoot – audiences has become more fascinated with how he works. Is it true he really send messages to co-star Sally Field in character as Lincoln? Did he only eat animals he’d killed during The Last of the Mohicans? Did he insist on receiving food via spoon while filming My Left Foot?
Extreme acting methods: has the public lost interest with over-the-top performances?
Now, Daniel Day-Lewis is back to public attention, somewhat reluctantly, promoting his latest movie Anemone. He is using this to vocalise his anger regarding how method acting is perceived. “I am somewhat annoyed nowadays when I hear all kinds of people gobbling off and using phrases like ‘gone full method’, which I think is meant to imply that a person’s behaving like a lunatic in an extreme fashion,” he told the New York Times. “Everyone often concentrate on the less important aspects of acting, and these elements typically include some form of self-flagellation or an experience that imposes upon oneself extreme unease or mental instability. But of course, in the life for a performer, it has to principally be about the inner transformation.”
A World of Imitators
To be honest, this sounds as if Day-Lewis has come out from seclusion only to discover aghast at the world that has developed in his image. When you are widely considered one of the greatest actors to ever work, and your approach involves headbutting a dummy until you break your nose (for Gangs of New York) or enduring two days in isolation deprived of sustenance (during In the Name of the Father), then it stands to reason that fellow performers will attempt to fill that vacuum by imitating 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 sheer amount of effort they put into their roles. At the shallow end of this trend we have people like Lady Gaga, who was so desperate to earn an Academy Award with House of Gucci that she dedicated the entire promotion trying to convince everyone that she became functionally Italian over 18 months as preparation.
Additionally, there is Jared Leto, who decided to immerse himself in the character as the Joker (in Suicide Squad) through sending “horrifying” gifts to fellow cast members. These items, depending on who you ask, range from deceased animals to intimate objects and used condoms, although Leto denied the most extreme claims. And then, naturally, there is Jim Carrey, who immersed himself so fully as Andy Kaufman for Man on the Moon that they succeeded to get a full-length documentary from behind-the-scenes footage of him making life to the utmost for everyone around him.
Contemporary Followers of the Method
The main Method Guy currently seems to be Jeremy Strong (once Day-Lewis’s assistant), whose process during Succession was so laboriously intensive that it became the basis of a critical magazine feature, including statements from individuals who were either concerned about his conduct (“The toll to himself that worries me,” remarked co-star Brian Cox) or annoyed beyond all measure by it (“I remember [him] making others to react with exasperation,” said an anonymous cast member).
The actor claims he ‘did not plan to stop acting, truly’
There are numerous additional cases. Andrew Garfield abstained from sex for six months 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, years following that film came out. Each of these instances, to some extent, aims to evoke the dedication in which Day-Lewis approaches his work.
A Noble But Uphill Fight
And, while his fightback to critics of the Method might be noble, a short publicity tour might not be enough to change anyone’s mind, not to mention their practices. Perhaps 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 simply start making more films. Surely everyone would support that idea.
