It’s been quite some time since anyone caught a glimpse of the acclaimed actor Daniel Day-Lewis. After he statement in 2017 that he would cease to pursue acting, prior to the debut of The Phantom Thread, the actor quietly faded from view. Yet, during his hiatus, his legend expanded further.
The Legend of His Method
Largely, this reputation revolves around his preferred style of working. Being an actor known for disappears into his characters – for example, while filming Lincoln, he had the director address him as “Mr President” for the entire production – audiences has become more fascinated with how he works. Did he really send texts to Sally Field as Abraham Lincoln? Was it accurate that he consumed solely 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 over-the-top performances?
Currently, Daniel Day-Lewis is back to public attention, with some hesitation, promoting his latest movie Anemone. He is taking this chance to vocalise his anger regarding how method acting is perceived. “I am somewhat annoyed these days to hear all kinds of people talking carelessly and using phrases like ‘gone full method’, which I think suggests that a person’s behaving like a lunatic in a drastic way,” he told the New York Times. “People tends to focus on superficial details of the work, and those details always seem to involve some sort of self-punishment or an experience that causes extreme unease or psychological strain. But of course, in the career of an actor, it must principally be about the internal work.”
An Industry Full of Followers
To be honest, it appears like the actor has come out from his retreat and found himself shocked by the acting community that has developed mirroring his methods. When you are widely considered one of the greatest performers in history, and your approach includes headbutting a dummy 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), it’s natural that fellow performers will attempt to fill that vacuum by imitating your hero.
Essentially, we exist in a landscape populated by half-cocked imitators of Day-Lewis who strive only to show the world the extensive degree of effort they put into their roles. On the milder side of this trend we have people like Lady Gaga, who was determined to earn an Academy Award with House of Gucci that she dedicated the whole campaign attempting to persuade people that she transformed into an Italian native for a year and a half as preparation.
Then we have Jared Leto, who chose to immerse himself in the character as the Joker (for Suicide Squad) through sending “horrifying” gifts to his castmates. These items, depending on who you ask, included deceased animals to intimate objects and personal hygiene products, although the actor refuted the most extreme claims. And then, naturally, we have Jim Carrey, who immersed himself so fully into Andy Kaufman for Man on the Moon that they 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 main practitioner of the Method at the moment seems to be Jeremy Strong (once Day-Lewis’s assistant), whose approach while filming Succession was so rigorously detailed that it became the basis of a critical magazine feature, full of quotes from people who were either concerned for his behaviour (“It’s the cost on himself concerns me,” said co-star Brian Cox) or extremely irritated by it (“I recall him causing everyone else roll their eyes,” stated an anonymous cast member).
Daniel Day-Lewis claims he ‘never intended to retire, really’
There are numerous additional cases. Andrew Garfield went celibate over half a year for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio rested inside a dead animal for The Revenant. It’s quite possible that actor Austin Butler continues to talk like Elvis Presley, three years after the movie’s release. All of this, to some extent, is meant to invoke the dedication with which Day-Lewis approaches his work.
A Noble Yet Challenging Fight
Moreover, while his fightback against method detractors could be commendable, a short publicity tour may prove insufficient to alter perceptions, let alone their practices. Maybe if he wants to make audiences recall what method acting is, or to demonstrate its potential results, then the optimal strategy for Day-Lewis is to just begin producing more films. Certainly we could all support that idea.
