It’s been quite some time since the public caught a glimpse of Daniel Day-Lewis. Following his statement in 2017 declaring he would no longer work as an actor, prior to the debut of The Phantom Thread, the actor withdrew from the spotlight. However, during his hiatus, his legend expanded further.
The Mythos of His Acting Method
Largely, this legend revolves around his preferred approach to roles. As someone who famously disappears into the roles he plays – for instance, while filming the Lincoln biopic, reportedly asked Steven Spielberg call him “Mr. President” throughout the shoot – the world has grown increasingly obsessed with his process. Did he really send texts to Sally Field as Abraham Lincoln? Was it accurate that he only eat game he hunted for The Last of the Mohicans? Did he insist on receiving food via spoon for My Left Foot?
Extreme acting methods: have we fallen out of love with over-the-top performances?
Currently, Daniel Day-Lewis has returned to public attention, somewhat reluctantly, promoting his latest movie Anemone. And he is taking this chance to express his frustration at how the Method technique is perceived. “I’m a little cross nowadays to hear various individuals gobbling off and using phrases like ‘gone full method’, which seems suggests that a person’s acting insane in an extreme fashion,” he told the New York Times. “People tends to focus on superficial details of the work, and those details always seem to involve some form of self-punishment or a situation that imposes upon oneself a severe discomfort or psychological strain. But of course, in the life of an actor, it has to principally be about the inner transformation.”
A World of Imitators
To be honest, this sounds as if the actor has emerged from seclusion only to discover aghast at the world that has been created mirroring his methods. If you’re regarded as among the best performers in history, and your process includes striking a prop to the point of injury (in Gangs of New York) or enduring 48 hours in solitary confinement 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.
In other words, we exist in an environment populated by half-cocked Day-Lewis impersonators who want nothing more than to demonstrate 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 determined to earn an Academy Award with House of Gucci that she spent the whole campaign trying to convince everyone that she became an Italian native over 18 months in preparation.
Additionally, there is Jared Leto, who decided to deeply embed himself into the role as the Joker (for Suicide Squad) through sending “horrifying” presents to fellow cast members. These, depending on who you ask, range from deceased animals to anal beads and used condoms, though Leto denied those worst excesses. Then, naturally, there is Jim Carrey, who immersed himself so fully into 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 to the utmost for everyone around him.
Contemporary Method Practitioners
The foremost Method Guy at the moment seems to be Jeremy Strong (formerly Day-Lewis’s assistant), whose approach while filming Succession was so rigorously detailed that it formed the basis of a critical magazine feature, full of quotes from people who were worried about his conduct (“It’s the cost on himself concerns me,” said Brian Cox) or extremely irritated by it (“I recall him causing everyone else to react with exasperation,” stated an unnamed co-star).
The actor says he ‘never intended to retire, really’
We have so many other examples. Andrew Garfield went celibate for six months for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio rested inside an animal carcass during The Revenant. There’s a fighting chance that Austin Butler still speaks in the style of Elvis, years following the movie’s release. All of this, in part, is meant to invoke the seriousness in which Day-Lewis approaches his craft.
A Noble But Uphill Fight
And, while his fightback to critics of the Method could be commendable, a brief promotional cycle may prove insufficient to alter perceptions, not to mention their behaviour. Maybe if he wants 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 additional movies. Surely everyone would support that idea.
