It has been quite some time since anyone caught a glimpse of Daniel Day-Lewis. Following his announcement in 2017 that he would cease to work as an actor, just before the debut of Phantom Thread, Day-Lewis withdrew from the spotlight. However, in his absence, his reputation expanded further.
The Mythos of His Method
Primarily, this legend revolves around his favored approach to roles. Being an actor known for immerses himself in the roles he plays – for instance, while filming Lincoln, he had Steven Spielberg call him “Mr. President” for the entire production – audiences has grown more fascinated with how he works. Is it true he really send texts to Sally Field as Abraham Lincoln? Did he only eat animals he’d killed for Last of the Mohicans? And did he insist on being spoon-fed for My Left Foot?
Madness in their method: has the public lost interest with actorly excess?
Currently, Daniel Day-Lewis has returned in the limelight, with some hesitation, promoting his latest movie Anemone. He is taking this chance to express his anger at how method acting is viewed. “I’m a little cross these days when I hear all kinds of people talking carelessly and using phrases like ‘fully embraced the Method’, which I think is meant to imply that a person’s acting insane in a drastic way,” he told a major publication. “Everyone often concentrate on superficial aspects of acting, and these elements typically include some sort of self-punishment or an experience that causes extreme unease or mental instability. But of course, in the life for a performer, it must principally be about the inner transformation.”
A World of Imitators
Frankly, it appears as if the actor has come out from his retreat only to discover aghast at the acting community that has been created mirroring his methods. If you’re regarded as among the best actors to ever work, and your approach involves striking a prop to the point of injury (in Gangs of New York) or enduring 48 hours in isolation without food or water (during In the Name of the Father), then it stands to reason that other actors will want to emulate that example by trying to mimic their idol.
In other words, we exist in a landscape populated by half-cocked Day-Lewis impersonators who want nothing more than to show the world the sheer amount of effort they put into their roles. At the shallow end of this trend there are performers such as Lady Gaga, who was determined to earn an Academy Award with House of Gucci that she dedicated the whole campaign trying to convince everyone that she transformed into functionally Italian for a year and a half as preparation.
Then we have Jared Leto, who chose to immerse himself into the role as the Joker (for Suicide Squad) by sending “horrifying” gifts to his castmates. These, depending on who you ask, included dead pigs and rats to intimate objects and used condoms, although Leto denied the most extreme claims. Then, of course, there is Jim Carrey, who went so deep into Andy Kaufman for Man on the Moon that filmmakers succeeded to get a feature-length documentary from behind-the-scenes footage of him causing difficulties to the utmost for everyone around him.
The Modern Followers of the Method
The foremost practitioner of the Method currently seems to be Jeremy Strong (once an assistant to Day-Lewis), whose approach while filming Succession was so laboriously intensive that it became the subject of a critical magazine feature, full of quotes from individuals who were either concerned about his conduct (“The toll to himself that worries me,” remarked Brian Cox) or annoyed beyond all measure by it (“I recall him causing others roll their eyes,” stated an unnamed co-star).
Daniel Day-Lewis says he ‘never intended to stop acting, really’
There are so many other examples. Andrew Garfield went celibate for six months while preparing 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 the movie’s release. Each of these instances, to some extent, is meant to invoke the dedication in which Day-Lewis approaches his work.
A Noble But Uphill Battle
And, although his rebuttal 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 wishes to make audiences recall the true essence of the Method, or to demonstrate what it can achieve, then Day-Lewis’s best bet is to just start making additional movies. Certainly we could all support that idea.
