It has been a long while since anyone saw or heard from Daniel Day-Lewis. After he statement in 2017 that he would no longer pursue acting, just before the release of Phantom Thread, Day-Lewis withdrew from the spotlight. Yet, during his hiatus, his reputation has only grown.
The Legend of His Acting Method
Largely, this reputation revolves around his favored style of working. As someone who famously immerses himself in the roles he plays – for example, during Lincoln, he had Steven Spielberg address him as “Mr. President” throughout the shoot – audiences has grown increasingly obsessed with how he works. Is it true he actually sent messages to co-star Sally Field in character as Lincoln? Was it accurate that he consumed solely game he hunted during Last of the Mohicans? Did he demand being spoon-fed for My Left Foot?
Extreme acting methods: have we fallen out of love with actorly excess?
Currently, Daniel Day-Lewis has returned in the limelight, with some hesitation, for his new film Anemone. And he is using this to vocalise his frustration at how method acting is perceived. “I am somewhat annoyed nowadays to hear various individuals talking carelessly and saying things like ‘fully embraced the Method’, which seems is meant to imply that a person’s acting insane in an extreme fashion,” he told a major publication. “People often concentrate on superficial aspects of acting, and those details always seem to involve some form of self-flagellation or an experience that imposes upon oneself extreme unease or mental instability. However, in the career of an actor, it must principally be about the internal work.”
A World of Imitators
Frankly, this sounds like the actor has come out from seclusion and found himself shocked by the world that has developed mirroring his methods. When you are regarded as among the best actors in history, and your approach includes headbutting a dummy until you break your nose (for Gangs of New York) or enduring 48 hours in solitary confinement 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 their idol.
Essentially, we exist in a landscape full of half-cocked imitators of Day-Lewis who want nothing more than to demonstrate the sheer amount of dedication they put into a character. On the milder side of the pool we have people like Lady Gaga, who was so desperate to win an Oscar for House of Gucci that she spent the entire promotion attempting to persuade people 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 as the Joker (for Suicide Squad) by sending “horrifying” presents to fellow cast members. These items, according to various accounts, included dead pigs and rats to anal beads and personal hygiene products, though the actor refuted those worst excesses. Then, naturally, there is Jim Carrey, who went so deep into Andy Kaufman for Man on the Moon that they literally managed in creating a feature-length documentary from behind-the-scenes footage of him making life to the utmost for his colleagues.
Contemporary Followers of the Method
The main practitioner of the Method at the moment seems to be Jeremy Strong (formerly an assistant to Day-Lewis), whose process while filming Succession was so rigorously detailed that it formed the basis of a derisive New Yorker profile, including statements from people who were worried about his conduct (“The toll to himself that worries me,” said Brian Cox) or annoyed beyond all measure by his actions (“I recall [him] making others roll their eyes,” said an unnamed co-star).
The actor says he ‘never intended to retire, really’
We have so many other examples. Andrew Garfield abstained from sex for six months for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio slept in an animal carcass during The Revenant. It’s quite possible that actor Austin Butler still speaks like Elvis Presley, years following the movie’s release. Each of these instances, to some extent, aims to evoke the dedication in which Day-Lewis approaches his work.
A Noble Yet Challenging Fight
And, while his fightback against method detractors could be commendable, 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 what method acting is, or to demonstrate what it can achieve, then Day-Lewis’s best bet is to just begin producing additional movies. Surely we could all support that idea.
