It’s been quite some time since anyone caught a glimpse of Daniel Day-Lewis. After he statement in 2017 that he would no longer pursue acting, just before the release of Phantom Thread, the actor quietly faded from view. Yet, during his hiatus, his reputation has only grown.
The Mythos Surrounding His Method
Primarily, this reputation revolves around his favored approach to roles. As someone known for disappears into his characters – for instance, while filming the Lincoln biopic, reportedly asked the director call him “Mr President” for the entire production – the world has become increasingly obsessed with his process. Did he actually sent texts to Sally Field as Abraham Lincoln? Did he only eat game he hunted during Last of the Mohicans? And did he insist on being spoon-fed while filming My Left Foot?
Madness in their method: have we fallen out of love with actorly excess?
Currently, Daniel Day-Lewis is back to public attention, somewhat reluctantly, promoting his latest movie Anemone. He is taking this chance to vocalise his frustration at how method acting is perceived. “I’m a little cross nowadays to hear all kinds of people talking carelessly and saying things like ‘fully embraced the Method’, which I think is meant to imply that someone is acting insane in an extreme fashion,” he told a major publication. “Everyone often concentrate on the less important aspects of acting, and these elements typically include some form of self-punishment or a situation that imposes upon oneself a severe discomfort or mental instability. However, in the career for a performer, it must mainly focus on the inner transformation.”
An Industry of Imitators
Frankly, this sounds as if Day-Lewis has come out from seclusion only to discover shocked by the acting community that has developed mirroring his methods. If you’re widely considered among the best actors to ever work, and your approach involves headbutting a dummy until you break your nose (for Gangs of New York) or spending two days in isolation without food or water (during In the Name of the Father), it’s natural that other actors will attempt to emulate that example by trying to mimic your hero.
Essentially, we now live in an environment populated by half-cocked Day-Lewis impersonators who want nothing more than to show the world the sheer amount of effort they invest in their roles. 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 spent the entire promotion attempting to persuade people that she became an Italian native for a year and a half as preparation.
Then we have Jared Leto, who decided to deeply embed himself in the character of the Joker (in Suicide Squad) by sending “disturbing” gifts to his castmates. These, depending on who you ask, range from deceased animals to intimate objects and used condoms, although the actor refuted those worst excesses. And then, of course, we have Jim Carrey, who went so deep as Andy Kaufman for Man on the Moon that they succeeded in creating a full-length documentary from behind-the-scenes footage of him causing difficulties as impossible as he could for his colleagues.
The Modern Method Practitioners
The main practitioner of the Method at the moment seems to be Jeremy Strong (once Day-Lewis’s assistant), whose process while filming Succession was so rigorously detailed that it became the subject of a critical New Yorker profile, full of quotes from people who were worried for his behaviour (“The toll to himself that worries me,” remarked Brian Cox) or extremely irritated by it (“I remember him causing everyone else roll their eyes,” stated an unnamed co-star).
The actor claims he ‘never intended to retire, really’
There are so many other examples. Andrew Garfield went celibate for six months while preparing for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio slept in a dead animal during The Revenant. There’s a fighting chance that Austin Butler continues to talk in the style of Elvis, years following the movie’s release. Each of these instances, to some extent, is meant to invoke the seriousness with which Day-Lewis approaches his craft.
An Admirable But Uphill Battle
Moreover, while his fightback to critics of the Method could be commendable, a brief promotional cycle might not be enough to alter perceptions, not to mention their behaviour. Maybe if he wants to remind people the true essence of the Method, or to show them its potential results, then the optimal strategy for Day-Lewis is to simply start making more films. Surely everyone would get behind that.
