It’s been a long while since anyone caught a glimpse of the acclaimed actor Daniel Day-Lewis. After he announcement in 2017 that he would cease to work as an actor, prior to the release of The Phantom Thread, the actor quietly faded from view. However, in his absence, his reputation has only grown.
The Mythos of His Method
Primarily, this legend centers on his preferred style of working. Being an actor who famously disappears into his characters – for example, while filming the Lincoln biopic, he had the director call him “Mr President” throughout the shoot – audiences has grown more fascinated with how he works. Did he actually sent messages to co-star Sally Field as Abraham Lincoln? Did he consumed solely game he hunted for The Last of the Mohicans? And did he demand receiving food via spoon for My Left Foot?
Extreme acting methods: has the public lost interest with actorly excess?
Now, Day-Lewis has returned to public attention, somewhat reluctantly, for his new film Anemone. He is using this to express his anger at how method acting is viewed. “I’m a little cross nowadays when I hear all kinds of people talking carelessly and saying things like ‘gone full method’, which seems suggests that someone is behaving like a lunatic in a drastic way,” he told a major publication. “People often concentrate on the less important aspects of acting, and those details typically include some form of self-punishment or an experience that imposes upon oneself extreme unease or psychological strain. However, in the career of an actor, it has to principally be about the inner transformation.”
A World Full of Followers
To be honest, it appears like the actor has emerged from seclusion and found himself shocked by the acting community that has been created mirroring his methods. When you are regarded as one of the greatest performers to ever work, and your process involves striking a prop to the point of injury (in Gangs of New York) or enduring 48 hours in isolation deprived of sustenance (during In the Name of the Father), it’s natural that other actors will attempt to emulate that example by trying to mimic your hero.
Essentially, we exist in a landscape full of imperfect imitators of Day-Lewis who want nothing more than to show the world the extensive degree of effort they invest in their roles. At the shallow end of the pool we have people like Lady Gaga, who was so desperate to earn an Academy Award for House of Gucci that she spent the whole campaign trying to convince everyone that she became an Italian native for a year and a half as preparation.
Additionally, there is Jared Leto, who decided to immerse himself into the role as the Joker (in Suicide Squad) through sending “horrifying” gifts to his castmates. These, according to various accounts, included dead pigs and rats to intimate objects and used condoms, although the actor refuted the most extreme claims. And then, of course, we have Jim Carrey, who went so deep into Andy Kaufman during Man on the Moon that filmmakers literally managed to get a feature-length documentary from behind-the-scenes footage of him causing difficulties to the utmost for everyone around him.
Contemporary Followers of the Method
The foremost Method Guy at the moment seems to be Jeremy Strong (once Day-Lewis’s assistant), whose approach while filming Succession was so laboriously intensive that it became the subject of a critical New Yorker profile, including statements from people who were either concerned about his conduct (“The toll to himself concerns me,” remarked Brian Cox) or extremely irritated by his actions (“I recall [him] making everyone else roll their eyes,” said an anonymous cast member).
The actor says he ‘never intended to retire, really’
We have so many other examples. Andrew Garfield abstained from sex over half a year for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio rested inside an animal carcass for The Revenant. There’s a fighting chance that actor Austin Butler continues to talk like Elvis Presley, years following that film came out. All of this, in part, aims to evoke the seriousness in which Day-Lewis approaches his work.
An Admirable Yet Challenging Fight
Moreover, while his fightback to critics of the Method could be commendable, a brief promotional cycle might not be enough to change anyone’s mind, let alone their behaviour. Maybe if he wishes to remind people what method acting is, or to show them its potential results, then the optimal strategy for Day-Lewis is to simply begin producing more films. Surely we could all get behind that.
