It’s been a long while since the public caught a glimpse of the acclaimed actor Daniel Day-Lewis. After he statement in 2017 declaring he would no longer work as an actor, just before the release of The Phantom Thread, Day-Lewis quietly faded from view. Yet, during his hiatus, his reputation expanded further.
The Mythos Surrounding His Acting Method
Largely, this reputation centers on his favored approach to roles. As someone who famously immerses himself in the roles he plays – for instance, during the Lincoln biopic, he had Steven Spielberg address him as “Mr. President” for the entire production – the world has grown more fascinated with how he works. Did he really send texts to Sally Field in character as Lincoln? Was it accurate that he only eat animals he’d killed for Last of the Mohicans? And did he demand receiving food via spoon while filming My Left Foot?
Madness in their method: has the public fallen out of love with actorly excess?
Now, Daniel Day-Lewis has returned to public attention, somewhat reluctantly, for his new film Anemone. He is taking this chance to vocalise his anger regarding how the Method technique is perceived. “I am somewhat annoyed these days when I hear all kinds of people talking carelessly and using phrases like ‘fully embraced the Method’, which I think is meant to imply that someone is acting insane in an extreme fashion,” he stated to a major publication. “People tends to focus on superficial details of the work, and those details typically include some form of self-flagellation or an experience that causes a severe discomfort or mental instability. But of course, in the life of an actor, it must principally be about the internal work.”
An Industry of Imitators
Frankly, this sounds like the actor has emerged from seclusion only to discover shocked by the world that has been created mirroring his methods. When you are regarded as among the best performers to ever work, and your process involves striking a prop to the point of injury (in Gangs of New York) or spending 48 hours in solitary confinement without food or water (for In the Name of the Father), it’s natural that other actors will attempt to fill that vacuum by imitating your hero.
Essentially, we exist in a landscape populated by imperfect imitators of Day-Lewis who want nothing more than to demonstrate the extensive degree of dedication they invest in their roles. On the milder side of the pool there are performers such as Lady Gaga, who was so desperate to earn an Academy Award for House of Gucci that she dedicated the entire promotion trying to convince everyone that she transformed into functionally Italian for a year and a half in preparation.
Then we have Jared Leto, who chose to immerse himself into the role of the Joker (in Suicide Squad) through sending “disturbing” presents to fellow cast members. These, depending on who you ask, range from deceased animals to anal beads and used condoms, although Leto denied the most extreme claims. Then, naturally, there is Jim Carrey, who immersed himself so fully 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 Method Practitioners
The foremost practitioner of the Method at the moment seems to be Jeremy Strong (formerly an assistant to Day-Lewis), whose process during Succession was so rigorously detailed that it became the basis of a derisive New Yorker profile, including statements from people who were worried for his behaviour (“It’s the cost on himself that worries me,” said co-star Brian Cox) or extremely irritated by it (“I recall [him] making everyone else roll their eyes,” stated an anonymous cast member).
Daniel Day-Lewis claims he ‘did not plan to retire, really’
We have so many other examples. Andrew Garfield abstained from sex over half a year while preparing for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio rested inside an animal carcass for The Revenant. There’s a fighting chance that Austin Butler still speaks like Elvis Presley, three years after that film came out. All of this, to some extent, aims to evoke the dedication with which Day-Lewis approaches his work.
An Admirable But Uphill Battle
And, although his rebuttal to critics of the Method could be commendable, a short publicity tour might not be enough to change anyone’s mind, let alone their behaviour. Maybe if he wants to remind people the true essence of the Method, or to demonstrate its potential results, then Day-Lewis’s best bet is to just start making more films. Surely we could all support that idea.
