It’s been quite some time since anyone saw or heard from Daniel Day-Lewis. Following his announcement in 2017 declaring he would no longer pursue acting, just before the debut of Phantom Thread, Day-Lewis quietly faded from view. However, in his absence, his legend has only grown.
The Mythos Surrounding His Acting Method
Primarily, this reputation centers on his favored approach to roles. Being an actor who famously immerses himself in his characters – for example, while filming Lincoln, he had the director address him as “Mr President” for the entire production – the world has grown more fascinated 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? And did he demand receiving food via spoon while filming My Left Foot?
Extreme acting methods: have we fallen out of love with actorly excess?
Currently, Daniel Day-Lewis has returned in the limelight, somewhat reluctantly, promoting his latest movie Anemone. And he is using this to express his anger regarding how method acting is viewed. “I am somewhat annoyed these days when I hear various individuals gobbling off and saying things like ‘fully embraced the Method’, which seems suggests that a person’s behaving like a lunatic in a drastic way,” he told the New York Times. “Everyone tends to focus on superficial aspects of acting, and these elements always seem to involve some sort of self-flagellation or a situation that causes extreme unease or mental instability. However, in the career for a performer, it has to principally be about the inner transformation.”
An Industry Full of Followers
To be honest, this sounds like Day-Lewis has emerged from seclusion only to discover aghast at the acting community that has been created mirroring his methods. When you are widely considered one of the greatest actors in history, and your process includes striking a prop to the point of injury (for Gangs of New York) or enduring two days in solitary confinement deprived of sustenance (during In the Name of the Father), then it stands to reason that other actors will attempt to emulate that example by imitating their idol.
Essentially, we exist in a landscape populated by half-cocked Day-Lewis impersonators who want nothing more than to show the world the extensive degree of effort they put into their roles. At the shallow end of this trend we have people like Lady Gaga, who was so desperate to earn an Academy Award for House of Gucci that she spent the entire promotion attempting to persuade people that she transformed into functionally Italian over 18 months as preparation.
Additionally, there is Jared Leto, who chose to immerse himself into the role as the Joker (in Suicide Squad) by sending “disturbing” gifts to fellow cast members. These items, depending on who you ask, range from deceased animals to anal beads and used condoms, though the actor refuted the most extreme claims. Then, of course, we have Jim Carrey, who went so deep into Andy Kaufman for Man on the Moon that filmmakers succeeded in creating a feature-length documentary from behind-the-scenes footage of him making life as impossible as he could for his colleagues.
Contemporary Method Practitioners
The foremost practitioner of the Method currently seems to be Jeremy Strong (once Day-Lewis’s assistant), whose process while filming Succession was so laboriously intensive that it formed the basis of a derisive magazine feature, full of quotes from individuals who were worried about his conduct (“It’s the cost to himself concerns me,” remarked co-star Brian Cox) or extremely irritated by it (“I remember him causing others roll their eyes,” said an unnamed co-star).
The actor claims he ‘did not plan to retire, really’
There are so many other examples. Andrew Garfield abstained from sex over half a year for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio slept in an animal carcass for The Revenant. There’s a fighting chance that Austin Butler still speaks in the style of Elvis, three years after the movie’s release. All of this, in part, is meant to invoke the seriousness with which Day-Lewis approaches his work.
An Admirable Yet Challenging Fight
And, while his fightback against method detractors could be commendable, a short publicity tour might not be enough to change anyone’s mind, let alone their behaviour. Maybe if he wants to make audiences recall what method acting is, or to show them its potential results, then Day-Lewis’s best bet is to just begin producing additional movies. Certainly we could all support that idea.