It has been quite some time since anyone saw or heard from Daniel Day-Lewis. Following his statement in 2017 that he would cease to pursue acting, prior to the release of The Phantom Thread, Day-Lewis quietly faded from view. Yet, in his absence, his legend has only grown.
The Legend of His Acting Method
Largely, this legend centers on his preferred approach to roles. Being an actor known for disappears into the roles he plays – for example, while filming Lincoln, reportedly asked Steven Spielberg address him as “Mr. President” throughout the shoot – the world has become more fascinated with how he works. Did 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 The Last of the Mohicans? Did he insist on 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 to public attention, with some hesitation, for his new film Anemone. And he is using this to express his frustration regarding how the Method technique is viewed. “I’m a little cross these days when I hear all kinds of people gobbling off and using phrases like ‘gone full method’, which seems suggests that a person’s acting insane in a drastic way,” he stated to a major publication. “Everyone tends to focus on the less important details of the work, and these elements always seem to involve some form of self-punishment or an experience that imposes upon oneself a severe discomfort or mental instability. However, in the life of an actor, it must mainly focus on the inner transformation.”
A World of Imitators
To be honest, it appears like the actor has emerged from seclusion and found himself aghast at the world that has been created in his image. If you’re regarded as one of the greatest performers to ever work, and your approach includes headbutting a dummy until you break your nose (in 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 want to fill that vacuum by trying to mimic your hero.
Essentially, we now live in a landscape populated by imperfect imitators of Day-Lewis who want nothing more than to show the world the extensive degree of effort they invest in a character. 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 whole campaign attempting to persuade people that she transformed into an Italian native over 18 months in preparation.
Then we have Jared Leto, who decided to immerse himself in the character of the Joker (in Suicide Squad) through sending “horrifying” gifts to his castmates. These, according to various accounts, included dead pigs and rats to intimate objects and personal hygiene products, although the actor refuted those worst excesses. And then, of course, we have Jim Carrey, who went so deep into Andy Kaufman for Man on the Moon that they literally managed in creating a full-length documentary out of B-roll of him causing difficulties as impossible as he could for his colleagues.
The Modern Method Practitioners
The foremost practitioner of the Method at the moment would appear to be Jeremy Strong (once an assistant to Day-Lewis), whose approach while filming Succession was so rigorously detailed that it became the basis of a derisive New Yorker profile, including statements from people who were either concerned about his conduct (“It’s the cost on himself concerns me,” said co-star Brian Cox) or annoyed beyond all measure by it (“I recall him causing others to react with exasperation,” stated an unnamed co-star).
The actor says he ‘did not plan to stop acting, really’
We have numerous additional cases. Andrew Garfield went celibate over half a year while preparing for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio rested inside a dead animal for The Revenant. There’s a fighting chance that actor Austin Butler still speaks in the style of Elvis, years following that film came out. All of this, to some extent, aims to evoke the dedication in which Day-Lewis approaches his craft.
A Noble But Uphill Battle
And, although his rebuttal against method detractors might be noble, a short publicity tour may prove insufficient to change anyone’s mind, not to mention their practices. Maybe if he wants to remind people the true essence of the Method, or to demonstrate its potential results, then the optimal strategy for Day-Lewis is to just begin producing more films. Surely everyone would support that idea.
