It’s been quite some time since the public saw or heard from Daniel Day-Lewis. After he announcement in 2017 that he would no longer pursue acting, prior to the release of The Phantom Thread, the actor quietly faded from view. However, during his hiatus, his reputation expanded further.
The Mythos Surrounding His Method
Primarily, this reputation revolves around his preferred style of working. As someone who famously immerses himself in the roles he plays – for example, while filming the Lincoln biopic, reportedly asked the director call him “Mr President” throughout the shoot – the world has become more fascinated with how he works. Is it true he really send messages to co-star Sally Field in character as Lincoln? Was it accurate that he only eat animals he’d killed during Last of the Mohicans? Did he demand receiving food via spoon for My Left Foot?
Madness in their method: has the public fallen out of love with actorly excess?
Currently, Day-Lewis has returned in the limelight, somewhat reluctantly, promoting his latest movie Anemone. He is taking this chance to vocalise his frustration at how method acting is viewed. “I’m a little cross these days to hear various individuals talking carelessly and using phrases like ‘gone full method’, which seems suggests that someone is acting insane in a drastic way,” he stated to the New York Times. “People often concentrate on the less important aspects of acting, and those details typically include some form of self-punishment or an experience that causes extreme unease or mental instability. But of course, in the career for a performer, it has to principally be about the internal work.”
An Industry Full of Followers
To be honest, it appears like the actor has emerged from his retreat only to discover shocked by the world that has been created mirroring his methods. If you’re widely considered among the best performers to ever work, and your process includes striking a prop to the point of injury (in Gangs of New York) or spending two days in isolation without food or water (during In the Name of the Father), then it stands to reason that fellow performers will want to fill that vacuum by trying to mimic your hero.
In other words, we now live in a landscape full of imperfect imitators of Day-Lewis who want nothing more than to show the world the sheer amount of effort they put into their roles. On the milder side of the pool we have people like Lady Gaga, who was determined to win an Oscar for House of Gucci that she dedicated the whole campaign trying to convince everyone that she became an Italian native for a year and a half in preparation.
Then we have Jared Leto, who decided to immerse himself into the role of the Joker (in Suicide Squad) by sending “horrifying” gifts to fellow cast members. These items, according to various accounts, included dead pigs and rats to anal beads and used condoms, though the actor refuted the most extreme claims. Then, of course, we have Jim Carrey, who went so deep as Andy Kaufman during Man on the Moon that they succeeded in creating a full-length documentary from behind-the-scenes footage of him making life to the utmost for his colleagues.
The Modern Method Practitioners
The main practitioner of the Method currently would appear to be Jeremy Strong (formerly Day-Lewis’s assistant), whose process during Succession was so laboriously intensive that it became the basis of a critical magazine feature, full of quotes from individuals who were either concerned about his conduct (“It’s the cost on himself that worries me,” said co-star Brian Cox) or extremely irritated by his actions (“I recall [him] making everyone else to react with exasperation,” stated an unnamed co-star).
The actor says he ‘did not plan to retire, truly’
We have numerous additional cases. Andrew Garfield abstained from sex over half a year for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio slept in an animal carcass during The Revenant. It’s quite possible 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 with which Day-Lewis approaches his craft.
An Admirable Yet Challenging Battle
And, while his fightback to critics of the Method might be noble, a brief promotional cycle might not be enough to alter perceptions, not to mention their practices. Maybe if he wishes to make audiences recall what method acting is, or to demonstrate its potential results, then Day-Lewis’s best bet is to simply start making more films. Surely everyone would get behind that.
