It’s been a long while since anyone saw or heard from Daniel Day-Lewis. Following his statement in 2017 that he would cease to pursue acting, prior to the debut of The Phantom Thread, the actor withdrew from the spotlight. However, during his hiatus, his reputation expanded further.
The Legend of His Acting Method
Largely, this reputation centers on his favored style of working. Being an actor known for disappears into his characters – for instance, during Lincoln, he had Steven Spielberg call him “Mr. President” for the entire production – the world has become increasingly obsessed with how he works. Did he really send messages to co-star Sally Field as Abraham Lincoln? Was it accurate that he only eat game he hunted for The Last of the Mohicans? And did he demand receiving food via spoon for My Left Foot?
Extreme acting methods: have we lost interest with over-the-top performances?
Currently, Daniel Day-Lewis has returned to public attention, 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 when I hear all kinds of people talking carelessly and saying things like ‘gone full method’, which seems is meant to imply that a person’s behaving like a lunatic in an extreme fashion,” he stated to the New York Times. “Everyone often concentrate on the less important details of the work, and these elements typically include some sort of self-punishment or a situation that causes extreme unease or psychological strain. However, in the life for a performer, it has to principally be about the inner transformation.”
An Industry of Imitators
To be honest, this sounds as if the actor has come out from his retreat and found himself shocked by the acting community that has developed mirroring his methods. If you’re regarded as among the best performers in history, and your approach involves headbutting a dummy until you break your nose (for Gangs of New York) or spending two days in solitary confinement deprived of sustenance (during In the Name of the Father), then it stands to reason that other actors will attempt to fill that vacuum by imitating their idol.
Essentially, we exist in an environment full of half-cocked Day-Lewis impersonators who strive only to show the world the sheer amount of dedication they put into a character. At the shallow end of the pool we have people like Lady Gaga, who was so desperate to win an Oscar with House of Gucci that she spent the entire promotion trying to convince everyone that she became functionally Italian for a year and a half as preparation.
Additionally, there is Jared Leto, who chose to deeply embed himself in the character of the Joker (for Suicide Squad) by sending “disturbing” presents to fellow cast members. These items, according to various accounts, included dead pigs and rats to anal beads and personal hygiene products, though Leto denied those worst excesses. And then, naturally, we have Jim Carrey, who immersed himself so fully as Andy Kaufman during Man on the Moon that filmmakers succeeded in creating a full-length documentary from behind-the-scenes footage of him making life as impossible as he could for his colleagues.
The Modern Followers of the Method
The main Method Guy currently would appear to be Jeremy Strong (formerly an assistant to Day-Lewis), whose process while filming Succession was so rigorously detailed that it became the basis of a critical magazine feature, including statements from people who were worried about his conduct (“The toll on himself that worries me,” remarked co-star Brian Cox) or annoyed beyond all measure by his actions (“I recall him causing others to react with exasperation,” stated an unnamed co-star).
The actor claims he ‘never intended to retire, truly’
There are so many other examples. Andrew Garfield went celibate for six months while preparing for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio slept in a dead animal for The Revenant. There’s a fighting chance that actor Austin Butler still speaks like Elvis Presley, years following the movie’s release. Each of these instances, in part, aims to evoke the seriousness with which Day-Lewis takes his craft.
An Admirable Yet Challenging Battle
And, while his fightback to critics of the Method could be commendable, a brief promotional cycle might not be enough to alter perceptions, let alone their practices. Maybe if he wishes to make audiences recall what method acting is, or to demonstrate its potential results, then the optimal strategy for Day-Lewis is to just begin producing more films. Surely we could all support that idea.
