It’s been quite some time since anyone saw or heard from Daniel Day-Lewis. After he statement in 2017 that he would no longer pursue acting, prior to the debut of Phantom Thread, the actor withdrew from the spotlight. Yet, in his absence, his reputation has only grown.
The Mythos of His 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, reportedly asked the director call him “Mr. President” throughout the shoot – audiences has grown more fascinated with how he works. Is it true he really send messages to co-star Sally Field in character as Lincoln? Was it accurate that he consumed solely animals he’d killed for Last of the Mohicans? Did he demand receiving food via spoon for 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, for his new film Anemone. He is taking this chance to express his frustration regarding how the Method technique is viewed. “I’m a little cross nowadays to hear all kinds of people gobbling off and saying things like ‘fully embraced the Method’, which I think is meant to imply that a person’s behaving like a lunatic in a drastic way,” he told a major publication. “Everyone tends to focus on the less important aspects of acting, and those details typically include some sort of self-punishment or a situation that causes a severe discomfort or psychological strain. But of course, in the life of an actor, it has to mainly focus on the internal work.”
A World of Imitators
To be honest, it appears like the actor has emerged from seclusion and found himself shocked by the world that has been created mirroring his methods. If you’re regarded as one of the greatest performers to ever work, and your approach involves striking a prop to the point of injury (in Gangs of New York) or spending 48 hours in isolation deprived of sustenance (during In the Name of the Father), then it stands to reason that other actors will want to emulate that example by imitating their idol.
Essentially, we exist in a landscape populated by imperfect Day-Lewis impersonators who want nothing more than to show the world the extensive degree of dedication they invest in their roles. On the milder side of this trend we have people like Lady Gaga, who was so desperate to win an Oscar for House of Gucci that she spent the entire promotion attempting to persuade people that she transformed into an Italian native for a year and a half as preparation.
Additionally, there is Jared Leto, who decided to deeply embed himself into the role of the Joker (in Suicide Squad) by sending “horrifying” gifts to his castmates. These items, depending on who you ask, included dead pigs and rats to intimate objects and used condoms, though Leto denied the most extreme claims. And then, of course, we have Jim Carrey, who immersed himself so fully into Andy Kaufman for Man on the Moon that filmmakers literally managed in creating a feature-length documentary out of B-roll of him making life to the utmost for his colleagues.
Contemporary Method Practitioners
The main practitioner of the Method currently seems to be Jeremy Strong (once Day-Lewis’s assistant), whose process while filming Succession was so rigorously detailed that it became the basis of a critical New Yorker profile, full of quotes from individuals who were either concerned for his behaviour (“It’s the cost to himself concerns me,” said Brian Cox) or extremely irritated by it (“I remember [him] making others to react with exasperation,” stated an unnamed co-star).
The actor says he ‘did not plan to retire, really’
There are so many other examples. Andrew Garfield went celibate over half a year while preparing for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio rested inside a dead animal for The Revenant. It’s quite possible that Austin Butler still speaks like Elvis Presley, three years after that film came out. All of this, to some extent, aims to evoke the seriousness in which Day-Lewis approaches his craft.
A Noble But Uphill Fight
And, although his rebuttal against method detractors could be commendable, a brief promotional cycle may prove insufficient to change anyone’s mind, let alone their practices. Maybe if he wishes to remind people the true essence of the Method, or to demonstrate what it can achieve, then Day-Lewis’s best bet is to just begin producing more films. Surely we could all get behind that.
