It’s been quite some time since anyone saw or heard from the acclaimed actor Daniel Day-Lewis. After he announcement in 2017 that he would no longer pursue acting, prior to the release of Phantom Thread, Day-Lewis quietly faded from view. However, in his absence, his legend has only grown.
The Mythos Surrounding His Method
Primarily, this legend revolves around his favored approach to roles. As someone who famously disappears into his characters – for instance, while filming the Lincoln biopic, he had the director address him as “Mr. President” throughout the shoot – the world has become more fascinated with his process. Did he really send texts to Sally Field as Abraham Lincoln? Was it accurate that he only eat animals he’d killed for Last of the Mohicans? Did he demand receiving food via spoon while filming My Left Foot?
Madness in their method: have we fallen out of love with over-the-top performances?
Now, Day-Lewis has returned to public attention, somewhat reluctantly, for his new film Anemone. He is using this to express his frustration at how method acting is perceived. “I am somewhat annoyed these days when I hear all kinds of people talking carelessly and using phrases like ‘gone full method’, which I think suggests that someone is acting insane in an extreme fashion,” he told the New York Times. “Everyone often concentrate on superficial details of the work, and these elements always seem to involve some form of self-flagellation or a situation that imposes upon oneself a severe discomfort or psychological strain. However, in the career for a performer, it must mainly focus on the internal work.”
An Industry Full of Followers
To be honest, it appears as if the actor has come out from his retreat only to discover shocked by the acting community that has developed in his image. When you are widely considered one of the greatest actors to ever work, and your process includes striking a prop until you break your nose (for Gangs of New York) or spending two days in solitary confinement deprived of sustenance (for In the Name of the Father), then it stands to reason that other actors will attempt to emulate that example by imitating your hero.
Essentially, we exist in a landscape populated by half-cocked Day-Lewis impersonators who want nothing more than to demonstrate the extensive degree of dedication they invest in a character. At the shallow end of the pool there are performers such as Lady Gaga, who was determined to win an Oscar 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 decided to deeply embed himself into the role of the Joker (in Suicide Squad) through sending “disturbing” presents to his castmates. These, according to various accounts, range from deceased animals to intimate objects and personal hygiene products, though the actor refuted those worst excesses. And then, of course, 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 out of B-roll of him causing difficulties as impossible as he could for everyone around him.
The Modern Followers of the Method
The foremost practitioner of the Method currently would appear to be Jeremy Strong (once an assistant to Day-Lewis), whose process while filming Succession was so laboriously intensive that it became the subject of a derisive magazine feature, including statements from people who were worried for his behaviour (“It’s the cost on himself concerns me,” said Brian Cox) or extremely irritated by it (“I remember him causing everyone else roll their eyes,” stated an anonymous cast member).
The actor claims he ‘did not plan to retire, truly’
There are so many other examples. Andrew Garfield went celibate for six months for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio slept in an animal carcass during The Revenant. It’s quite possible that Austin Butler continues to talk in the style of Elvis, three years after that film came out. Each of these instances, to some extent, aims to evoke the seriousness in which Day-Lewis takes his craft.
A Noble But Uphill Fight
And, although his rebuttal to critics of the Method might be noble, a short publicity tour might not be enough to alter perceptions, let alone their behaviour. Perhaps if he wants to make audiences recall the true essence of the Method, or to show them what it can achieve, then Day-Lewis’s best bet is to just begin producing additional movies. Certainly we could all support that idea.
