It’s been a long while since the public 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 debut of Phantom Thread, Day-Lewis withdrew from the spotlight. Yet, during his hiatus, his legend has only grown.
The Legend of His Acting Method
Largely, this legend revolves around his favored approach to roles. As someone who famously disappears into the roles he plays – for instance, while filming the Lincoln biopic, reportedly asked Steven Spielberg call him “Mr. President” for the entire production – the world has grown more fascinated with his process. Did he actually sent texts to Sally Field as Abraham Lincoln? Did he consumed solely game he hunted for Last of the Mohicans? And did he demand being spoon-fed while filming My Left Foot?
Madness in their method: have we lost interest with over-the-top performances?
Now, Day-Lewis is back in the limelight, with some hesitation, for his new film Anemone. And he is using this to express his anger at how method acting is viewed. “I’m a little cross these days to hear all kinds of people talking carelessly and using phrases like ‘fully embraced the Method’, which I think suggests that a person’s acting insane in a drastic way,” he stated to the New York Times. “People tends to focus on superficial aspects of acting, and those details always seem to involve some sort of self-flagellation or a situation that causes extreme unease or mental instability. However, in the career of an actor, it must principally be about the inner transformation.”
An Industry Full of Followers
To be honest, this sounds like Day-Lewis has emerged from his retreat and found himself shocked by the acting community that has been created in his image. If you’re widely considered among the best actors in history, and your approach includes striking a prop to the point of injury (in Gangs of New York) or spending 48 hours in isolation without food or water (for In the Name of the Father), then it stands to reason that fellow performers will want to emulate that example by trying to mimic your hero.
Essentially, we exist in a landscape full of imperfect Day-Lewis impersonators who strive only to show the world the extensive degree of effort they invest in a character. On the milder side of this trend there are performers such as Lady Gaga, who was so desperate to earn an Academy Award with House of Gucci that she spent the entire promotion attempting to persuade people that she transformed into an Italian native for a year and a half in preparation.
Additionally, there is Jared Leto, who decided to immerse himself into the role as the Joker (in Suicide Squad) by sending “horrifying” gifts to fellow cast members. These, depending on who you ask, included deceased animals to anal beads and used condoms, although the actor refuted the most extreme claims. And then, naturally, we have Jim Carrey, who went so deep as Andy Kaufman for Man on the Moon that filmmakers succeeded to get a full-length documentary from behind-the-scenes footage of him causing difficulties to the utmost for his colleagues.
Contemporary Method Practitioners
The main Method Guy currently seems to be Jeremy Strong (formerly Day-Lewis’s assistant), whose approach during Succession was so laboriously intensive that it became the subject of a critical New Yorker profile, full of quotes from people who were either concerned for his behaviour (“The toll on himself that worries me,” said co-star Brian Cox) or extremely irritated by his actions (“I remember him causing everyone else to react with exasperation,” said an unnamed co-star).
The actor claims he ‘did not plan to retire, really’
There are so many other examples. Andrew Garfield went celibate over half a year for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio rested inside an animal carcass during The Revenant. There’s a fighting chance that Austin Butler still speaks in the style of Elvis, three years after the movie’s release. Each of these instances, in part, is meant to invoke the seriousness in which Day-Lewis approaches his craft.
A Noble Yet Challenging Fight
Moreover, although his rebuttal against method detractors could be commendable, a brief promotional cycle might not be enough to change anyone’s mind, let alone their behaviour. Maybe if he wishes to remind people what method acting is, or to show them its potential results, then Day-Lewis’s best bet is to just begin producing more films. Surely everyone would get behind that.
