It’s been a long while since anyone saw or heard from the acclaimed actor Daniel Day-Lewis. After he statement in 2017 declaring he would no longer pursue acting, prior to the release of Phantom Thread, the actor withdrew from the spotlight. Yet, in his absence, his legend has only grown.
The Mythos of His Method
Largely, this legend centers on his favored approach to roles. Being an actor known for disappears into the roles he plays – for example, while filming Lincoln, reportedly asked the director address him as “Mr. President” throughout the shoot – audiences has grown more fascinated with how he works. Is it true he really send texts to Sally Field in character as Lincoln? Was it accurate that he only eat animals he’d killed during The Last of the Mohicans? And did he insist on receiving food via spoon while filming My Left Foot?
Madness in their method: has the public lost interest with over-the-top performances?
Now, Daniel Day-Lewis is back to public attention, somewhat reluctantly, for his new film Anemone. He is taking this chance to express his frustration at how the Method technique is perceived. “I am somewhat annoyed nowadays to hear all kinds of people gobbling off and using phrases like ‘fully embraced the Method’, which seems suggests that a person’s behaving like a lunatic in an extreme fashion,” he stated to the New York Times. “People often concentrate on the less important details of the work, and these elements always seem to involve some sort of self-punishment or a situation that causes extreme unease or mental instability. However, in the life for a performer, it has to mainly focus on the internal work.”
A World of Imitators
Frankly, it appears as if Day-Lewis has emerged from his retreat only to discover shocked by the acting community that has been created mirroring his methods. When you are widely considered one of the greatest performers in history, and your approach involves headbutting a dummy to the point of injury (in Gangs of New York) or enduring 48 hours in solitary confinement without food or water (during In the Name of the Father), then it stands to reason that other actors will attempt to fill that vacuum by trying to mimic their idol.
In other words, we exist in an environment populated by half-cocked imitators of Day-Lewis who want nothing more than to show the world the sheer amount of effort they invest in a character. At the shallow end 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 whole campaign attempting to persuade people that she became functionally Italian over 18 months in preparation.
Additionally, there is Jared Leto, who chose to deeply embed himself into the role as the Joker (in Suicide Squad) by sending “disturbing” gifts to fellow cast members. These, according to various accounts, range from dead pigs and rats to anal beads and used condoms, although the actor refuted those worst excesses. Then, of course, there is Jim Carrey, who went so deep as Andy Kaufman during Man on the Moon that they succeeded to get a feature-length documentary from behind-the-scenes footage of him causing difficulties as impossible as he could for everyone around him.
Contemporary Followers of the Method
The foremost Method Guy currently seems to be Jeremy Strong (formerly an assistant to Day-Lewis), whose approach during Succession was so laboriously intensive that it formed the subject of a critical magazine feature, including statements from individuals who were either concerned about his conduct (“It’s the cost on himself concerns me,” remarked co-star Brian Cox) or extremely irritated by his actions (“I recall him causing others roll their eyes,” stated an unnamed co-star).
The actor claims he ‘never intended to stop acting, really’
We have so many other examples. 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 still speaks like Elvis Presley, years following that film came out. Each of these instances, in part, aims to evoke the seriousness in which Day-Lewis takes his craft.
A Noble Yet Challenging Battle
Moreover, while his fightback against method detractors might be noble, a brief promotional cycle might not be enough to change anyone’s mind, not to mention their behaviour. Perhaps if he wants to make audiences recall what method acting is, or to demonstrate its potential results, then Day-Lewis’s best bet is to just begin producing additional movies. Surely we could all support that idea.
