It has been quite some time since anyone caught a glimpse of Daniel Day-Lewis. After he statement in 2017 that he would no longer pursue acting, just before the release of The Phantom Thread, Day-Lewis quietly faded from view. However, in his absence, his legend expanded further.
The Legend of His Method
Largely, this reputation centers on his favored style of working. Being an actor known for immerses himself in the roles he plays – for example, during Lincoln, reportedly asked Steven Spielberg call him “Mr. President” throughout the shoot – the world has become more fascinated with his process. Is it true he actually sent texts to Sally Field in character as Lincoln? Was it accurate that he only eat game he hunted during The Last of the Mohicans? And did he demand being spoon-fed for My Left Foot?
Madness in their method: have we lost interest with actorly excess?
Now, Day-Lewis is back to public attention, somewhat reluctantly, promoting his latest movie Anemone. He is taking this chance to express his anger regarding how the Method technique is viewed. “I am somewhat annoyed nowadays when I hear all kinds of people gobbling off and using phrases like ‘gone full method’, which seems suggests that someone is behaving like a lunatic in a drastic way,” he stated to the New York Times. “Everyone tends to focus 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 a severe discomfort or psychological strain. But of course, in the life of an actor, it must mainly focus on the inner transformation.”
An Industry Full of Followers
Frankly, this sounds as if the actor has come out from seclusion and found himself aghast at the acting community that has been created mirroring his methods. When you are widely considered among the best performers in history, and your process includes striking a prop until you break your nose (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 want to fill that vacuum by imitating your hero.
In other words, we now live in an environment populated by half-cocked imitators of Day-Lewis who want nothing more than to demonstrate the sheer amount of effort they put into their roles. On the milder side of the pool there are performers such as Lady Gaga, who was determined to earn an Academy Award for House of Gucci that she dedicated the whole campaign trying to convince everyone that she became functionally Italian for a year and a half in preparation.
Then we have Jared Leto, who chose to immerse himself in the character of the Joker (in Suicide Squad) through sending “disturbing” presents to fellow cast members. These items, depending on who you ask, included dead pigs and rats to anal beads and personal hygiene products, though the actor refuted those worst excesses. Then, naturally, there is Jim Carrey, who went so deep as Andy Kaufman during Man on the Moon that they succeeded in creating a feature-length documentary out of B-roll of him making life to the utmost for everyone around him.
Contemporary Method Practitioners
The main practitioner of the Method currently would appear to be Jeremy Strong (once an assistant to Day-Lewis), whose process during Succession was so laboriously intensive that it formed the basis of a critical magazine feature, including statements from people who were worried for his behaviour (“The toll on himself concerns me,” said co-star Brian Cox) or extremely irritated by his actions (“I remember him causing others to react with exasperation,” said an anonymous cast member).
The actor says he ‘never intended to stop acting, really’
We have numerous additional cases. Andrew Garfield abstained from sex over half a year for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio rested inside a dead animal during The Revenant. There’s a fighting chance that actor Austin Butler still speaks in the style of Elvis, three years after the movie’s release. All of this, in part, aims to evoke the dedication with which Day-Lewis takes his work.
A Noble Yet Challenging Fight
And, while his fightback to critics of the Method could be commendable, a short publicity tour might not be enough to alter perceptions, let alone their behaviour. Perhaps if he wants to remind people the true essence of the Method, or to demonstrate its potential results, then Day-Lewis’s best bet is to just begin producing more films. Surely we could all get behind that.
