It’s been quite some time since anyone saw or heard from Daniel Day-Lewis. Following his announcement in 2017 that he would cease to pursue acting, prior to the debut of Phantom Thread, Day-Lewis withdrew from the spotlight. Yet, during his hiatus, his reputation expanded further.
The Legend of His Acting Method
Primarily, this reputation revolves around his preferred style of working. Being an actor known for disappears into his characters – for instance, during the Lincoln biopic, he had the director call him “Mr President” throughout the shoot – the world has grown increasingly obsessed with his process. Is it true he really send messages to co-star Sally Field as Abraham Lincoln? Did he consumed solely game he hunted for The Last of the Mohicans? Did he insist on being spoon-fed while filming My Left Foot?
Extreme acting methods: 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 frustration at how method acting is perceived. “I’m a little cross nowadays when I hear various individuals talking carelessly and using phrases like ‘fully embraced the Method’, which seems suggests that a person’s behaving like a lunatic in a drastic way,” he stated to a major publication. “People often concentrate on the less important details of the work, and these elements typically include some sort of self-flagellation or an experience that causes a severe discomfort or mental instability. However, in the life of an actor, it has to mainly focus on the internal work.”
An Industry of Imitators
To be honest, this sounds like Day-Lewis has emerged from seclusion and found himself aghast at the acting community that has been created in his image. If you’re regarded as one of the greatest performers to ever work, and your process includes headbutting a dummy until you break your nose (in Gangs of New York) or spending 48 hours in solitary confinement deprived of sustenance (during In the Name of the Father), it’s natural that other actors will attempt to emulate that example by trying to mimic your hero.
In other words, we now live in a landscape full of imperfect imitators of Day-Lewis who strive only to demonstrate the extensive degree of dedication they put into their roles. At the shallow end of this trend we have people like Lady Gaga, who was determined to win an Oscar with House of Gucci that she spent the whole campaign trying to convince everyone that she transformed into an Italian native over 18 months in preparation.
Then we have Jared Leto, who decided to deeply embed himself into the role as the Joker (for Suicide Squad) through sending “disturbing” presents to fellow cast members. These items, depending on who you ask, range from deceased animals to anal beads and personal hygiene products, although the actor refuted those worst excesses. Then, of course, there is Jim Carrey, who immersed himself so fully into Andy Kaufman during Man on the Moon that they literally managed to get a feature-length documentary out of B-roll of him making life as impossible as he could for his colleagues.
The Modern Method Practitioners
The main practitioner of the Method currently would appear to be Jeremy Strong (formerly Day-Lewis’s assistant), whose approach during Succession was so laboriously intensive that it formed the subject of a critical New Yorker profile, including statements from people who were either concerned about his conduct (“The toll to himself that worries me,” remarked co-star Brian Cox) or annoyed beyond all measure by it (“I recall [him] making others to react with exasperation,” stated an anonymous cast member).
Daniel Day-Lewis says he ‘never intended to stop acting, truly’
We have so many other examples. Andrew Garfield abstained from sex for six months while preparing for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio rested inside a dead animal during The Revenant. There’s a fighting chance that actor Austin Butler still speaks like Elvis Presley, years following that film came out. All of this, to some extent, aims to evoke the dedication in which Day-Lewis approaches his work.
An Admirable But Uphill Fight
Moreover, although his rebuttal against method detractors might be noble, a brief promotional cycle may prove insufficient to alter perceptions, let alone their practices. Maybe if he wishes to make audiences recall what method acting is, or to show them its potential results, then the optimal strategy for Day-Lewis is to simply start making additional movies. Surely we could all support that idea.
