It’s been quite some time since the public saw or heard from Daniel Day-Lewis. Following his announcement in 2017 that he would cease to pursue acting, prior to the debut of The Phantom Thread, the actor withdrew from the spotlight. Yet, in his absence, his legend expanded further.
The Mythos Surrounding His Method
Primarily, this legend centers on his favored approach to roles. Being an actor known for immerses himself in his characters – for instance, while filming the Lincoln biopic, reportedly asked the director address him as “Mr President” throughout the shoot – audiences has grown more fascinated with how he works. Did he really send texts to Sally Field in character as Lincoln? Did he consumed solely animals he’d killed during Last of the Mohicans? And did he demand receiving food via spoon for My Left Foot?
Madness in their method: have we lost interest with over-the-top performances?
Currently, Day-Lewis is back to public attention, with some hesitation, for his new film Anemone. He is taking this chance to vocalise his anger regarding how method acting is perceived. “I am somewhat annoyed nowadays when I hear all kinds of people talking carelessly and saying things like ‘fully embraced the Method’, which I think suggests that a person’s acting insane in a drastic way,” he stated to a major publication. “Everyone often concentrate on the less important details of the work, and these elements always seem to involve some sort of self-flagellation or a situation that causes extreme unease or mental instability. But of course, in the life of an actor, it has to principally be about the internal work.”
A World of Imitators
Frankly, this sounds like the actor has come out from seclusion only to discover aghast at the acting community that has developed in his image. If you’re regarded as one of the greatest actors in history, and your approach includes striking a prop to the point of injury (in Gangs of New York) or enduring two days in isolation without food or water (during In the Name of the Father), then it stands to reason that fellow performers will attempt to emulate that example by imitating your hero.
In other words, we now live in a landscape populated by half-cocked Day-Lewis impersonators who strive only to demonstrate the extensive degree of dedication they put into their roles. On the milder side of this trend there are performers such as Lady Gaga, who was determined to earn an Academy Award with House of Gucci that she spent the whole campaign trying to convince everyone that she transformed into functionally Italian for a year and a half in preparation.
Additionally, there is Jared Leto, who decided to immerse himself into the role of the Joker (for Suicide Squad) by sending “disturbing” gifts to his castmates. These, depending on who you ask, included deceased animals to anal beads and used condoms, though Leto denied those worst excesses. Then, of course, we have Jim Carrey, who immersed himself so fully into Andy Kaufman for Man on the Moon that filmmakers literally managed in creating a full-length documentary out of B-roll of him causing difficulties as impossible as he could for his colleagues.
Contemporary Followers of the Method
The main Method Guy currently would appear to be Jeremy Strong (formerly Day-Lewis’s assistant), whose approach while filming Succession was so rigorously detailed that it became the basis of a critical New Yorker profile, including statements from people who were either concerned for his behaviour (“The toll on himself that worries me,” said Brian Cox) or annoyed beyond all measure by his actions (“I remember [him] making others roll their eyes,” stated an unnamed co-star).
The actor claims he ‘never intended to retire, truly’
There are so many other examples. Andrew Garfield went celibate over half a year for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio rested inside an animal carcass for The Revenant. It’s quite possible that Austin Butler still speaks like Elvis Presley, years following the movie’s release. Each of these instances, to some extent, is meant to invoke the seriousness with which Day-Lewis approaches his craft.
A Noble But Uphill Battle
And, although his rebuttal to critics of the Method could be commendable, a brief promotional cycle may prove insufficient to change anyone’s mind, not to mention their behaviour. Maybe if he wants to make audiences recall the true essence of the Method, or to show them what it can achieve, then Day-Lewis’s best bet is to simply begin producing additional movies. Certainly we could all get behind that.
