It’s been a long while since anyone saw or heard from 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 reputation expanded further.
The Mythos of His Acting Method
Primarily, this reputation centers on his favored style of working. Being an actor known for disappears into his characters – for instance, while filming Lincoln, he had the director call him “Mr President” for the entire production – audiences has become increasingly obsessed with his process. Is it true he really send messages to co-star Sally Field as Abraham Lincoln? Was it accurate that he consumed solely animals he’d killed for The Last of the Mohicans? Did he demand being spoon-fed while filming My Left Foot?
Extreme acting methods: have we fallen out of love with actorly excess?
Currently, Daniel Day-Lewis is back in the limelight, somewhat reluctantly, promoting his latest movie Anemone. He is using this to vocalise his anger at how method acting is viewed. “I am somewhat annoyed these days when I hear various individuals talking carelessly and using phrases like ‘fully embraced the Method’, which seems suggests that someone is acting insane in an extreme fashion,” he stated to the New York Times. “People tends to focus on the less important aspects of acting, and these elements always seem to involve some form of self-punishment or an experience that imposes upon oneself 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 Day-Lewis has come out from his retreat only to discover aghast at the acting community that has developed in his image. If you’re widely considered one of the greatest actors in history, and your process includes headbutting a dummy until you break your nose (for Gangs of New York) or enduring 48 hours in isolation deprived of sustenance (for In the Name of the Father), then it stands to reason that fellow performers will want to fill that vacuum by imitating their idol.
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 there are performers such as Lady Gaga, who was determined to win an Oscar for House of Gucci that she dedicated the whole campaign attempting to persuade people that she transformed into an Italian native over 18 months as preparation.
Additionally, there is Jared Leto, who decided to deeply embed himself into the role as the Joker (in Suicide Squad) through sending “horrifying” gifts to his castmates. These, according to various accounts, included deceased animals to intimate objects and personal hygiene products, though Leto denied those worst excesses. And then, naturally, there is Jim Carrey, who immersed himself so fully as Andy Kaufman for Man on the Moon that they literally managed in creating a feature-length documentary out of B-roll of him causing difficulties as impossible as he could for his colleagues.
The Modern Method Practitioners
The foremost Method Guy at the moment seems to be Jeremy Strong (once Day-Lewis’s assistant), whose approach while filming Succession was so rigorously detailed that it formed the subject of a derisive magazine feature, including statements from people who were worried about his conduct (“The toll on himself concerns me,” said Brian Cox) or extremely irritated by his actions (“I remember [him] making others roll their eyes,” said an anonymous cast member).
The actor says he ‘did not plan to retire, truly’
There are so many other examples. Andrew Garfield went celibate for six months for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio rested inside an animal carcass for The Revenant. There’s a fighting chance that Austin Butler continues to talk in the style of Elvis, years following that film came out. Each of these instances, in part, is meant to invoke the dedication with which Day-Lewis takes his work.
A Noble But Uphill Fight
Moreover, although his rebuttal to critics of the Method might be noble, a short publicity tour may prove insufficient to change anyone’s mind, not to mention their practices. Perhaps if he wishes to make audiences recall the true essence of the Method, or to show them its potential results, then Day-Lewis’s best bet is to just begin producing additional movies. Certainly everyone would support that idea.
