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 release of The Phantom Thread, Day-Lewis quietly faded from view. Yet, in his absence, his legend has only grown.
The Mythos of His Method
Largely, this legend revolves around his preferred style of working. Being an actor known for immerses himself in the roles he plays – for example, while filming Lincoln, reportedly asked the director call him “Mr. President” throughout the shoot – the world has grown more fascinated with his process. Did he actually sent messages to co-star Sally Field in character as Lincoln? Was it accurate that he only eat game he hunted during The Last of the Mohicans? Did he demand being spoon-fed while filming My Left Foot?
Extreme acting methods: has the public fallen out of love with over-the-top performances?
Currently, Daniel Day-Lewis is back in the limelight, somewhat reluctantly, for his new film Anemone. He is using this to vocalise his frustration regarding how the Method technique is viewed. “I’m a little cross these days to hear various individuals talking carelessly and using phrases like ‘gone full method’, which seems is meant to imply that a person’s acting insane in an extreme fashion,” he stated to a major publication. “People often concentrate on the less important details of the work, and those details typically include some sort of self-punishment or a situation that imposes upon oneself extreme unease or psychological strain. However, in the career of an actor, it has to mainly focus on the internal work.”
A World Full of Followers
Frankly, it appears as if the actor has emerged from his retreat only to discover shocked by the acting community that has developed in his image. When you are widely considered among the best performers to ever work, and your approach involves striking a prop until you break your nose (for Gangs of New York) or enduring two days in solitary confinement deprived of sustenance (for In the Name of the Father), it’s natural that fellow performers will attempt to emulate that example by trying to mimic your hero.
In other words, we now live in an environment populated by imperfect Day-Lewis impersonators who strive only to show the world the extensive degree of dedication they put into a character. On the milder side of the pool we have people like Lady Gaga, who was determined to earn an Academy Award for House of Gucci that she dedicated the entire promotion attempting to persuade people that she became functionally Italian for a year and a half as preparation.
Then we have Jared Leto, who decided to immerse himself into the role as the Joker (in Suicide Squad) through sending “disturbing” gifts to his castmates. These items, according to various accounts, included deceased animals to intimate objects and used condoms, though the actor refuted the most extreme claims. Then, of course, we have Jim Carrey, who went so deep as Andy Kaufman during Man on the Moon that they succeeded to get a feature-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 foremost practitioner of the Method currently would appear to be Jeremy Strong (once an assistant to Day-Lewis), whose process during Succession was so rigorously detailed that it formed the basis of a critical New Yorker profile, including statements from individuals who were either concerned about his conduct (“The toll to himself concerns me,” remarked co-star Brian Cox) or extremely irritated by his actions (“I recall him causing others roll their eyes,” stated an unnamed co-star).
The actor claims he ‘did not plan to stop acting, truly’
There are numerous additional cases. Andrew Garfield abstained from sex over half a year for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio slept in an animal carcass for The Revenant. It’s quite possible that Austin Butler continues to talk like Elvis Presley, years following the movie’s release. All of this, to some extent, aims to evoke the dedication with which Day-Lewis takes his craft.
A Noble Yet Challenging Battle
Moreover, while his fightback to critics of the Method could be commendable, a short publicity tour may prove insufficient to alter perceptions, not to mention their behaviour. Perhaps if he wants to remind people what method acting is, or to demonstrate what it can achieve, then Day-Lewis’s best bet is to just begin producing more films. Certainly everyone would support that idea.
