It’s been a long while since anyone caught a glimpse of Daniel Day-Lewis. Following his statement in 2017 declaring he would cease to pursue acting, prior to the debut of The Phantom Thread, the actor quietly faded from view. Yet, in his absence, his legend expanded further.
The Mythos Surrounding His Method
Primarily, this legend revolves around his preferred style of working. As someone who famously disappears into his characters – for example, during the Lincoln biopic, he had Steven Spielberg call him “Mr President” throughout the shoot – the world has grown increasingly obsessed with his process. Did he actually sent texts to Sally Field in character as Lincoln? Did he consumed solely game he hunted for Last of the Mohicans? Did he demand receiving food via spoon for My Left Foot?
Extreme acting methods: has the public fallen out of love with actorly excess?
Now, Day-Lewis has returned in the limelight, somewhat reluctantly, for his new film Anemone. He is using this to vocalise his frustration regarding how the Method technique is viewed. “I am somewhat annoyed these days when I hear various individuals gobbling off and saying things like ‘gone full method’, which I think is meant to imply that a person’s behaving like a lunatic in a drastic way,” he told the New York Times. “People often concentrate on superficial aspects of acting, and those details typically include some sort of self-flagellation or an experience that imposes upon oneself extreme unease or mental instability. But of course, in the career of an actor, it has to mainly focus on the internal work.”
A World Full of Followers
Frankly, this sounds as if Day-Lewis has come out from his retreat only to discover aghast at the world that has been created in his image. When you are regarded as among the best performers in history, 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 (for In the Name of the Father), it’s natural that other actors will attempt to fill that vacuum by imitating their idol.
In other words, we exist in a landscape populated by imperfect imitators of Day-Lewis who want nothing more than to demonstrate the sheer amount of effort they put into a character. On the milder side of the pool we have people like Lady Gaga, who was determined to earn an Academy Award with House of Gucci that she dedicated the entire promotion attempting to persuade people that she became an Italian native over 18 months as preparation.
Then we have Jared Leto, who decided to deeply embed himself in the character of the Joker (for Suicide Squad) by sending “disturbing” presents to fellow cast members. These items, according to various accounts, range from deceased animals to anal beads and personal hygiene products, though Leto denied those worst excesses. And then, naturally, there is Jim Carrey, who immersed himself so fully into 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 as impossible as he could for everyone around him.
The Modern Followers of the Method
The foremost Method Guy at the moment would appear to be Jeremy Strong (once an assistant to Day-Lewis), whose process during Succession was so laboriously intensive that it formed the basis of a critical magazine feature, full of quotes from people who were worried about his conduct (“The toll on himself that worries me,” remarked Brian Cox) or annoyed beyond all measure by it (“I recall him causing others to react with exasperation,” said an unnamed co-star).
Daniel Day-Lewis says he ‘did not plan to retire, really’
We have numerous additional cases. Andrew Garfield went celibate over half a year for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio slept in an animal carcass for The Revenant. It’s quite possible that Austin Butler continues to talk like Elvis Presley, three years after the movie’s release. Each of these instances, to some extent, is meant to invoke the dedication with which Day-Lewis takes his work.
An Admirable But Uphill Fight
Moreover, while his fightback to critics of the Method could be commendable, a short publicity tour may prove insufficient to change anyone’s mind, let alone their behaviour. Maybe if he wants to remind people what method acting is, or to show them what it can achieve, then the optimal strategy for Day-Lewis is to simply start making additional movies. Certainly everyone would support that idea.
