It’s been quite some time since anyone caught a glimpse of the acclaimed actor Daniel Day-Lewis. After he announcement in 2017 that he would no longer pursue acting, just before the debut of The Phantom Thread, Day-Lewis withdrew from the spotlight. However, in his absence, his legend has only grown.
The Mythos Surrounding His Acting Method
Primarily, this legend revolves around his favored approach to roles. Being an actor who famously disappears into the roles he plays – for example, while filming the Lincoln biopic, reportedly asked the director address him as “Mr President” throughout the shoot – audiences has become more fascinated with his process. Is it true he actually sent texts to Sally Field in character as Lincoln? Was it accurate that he consumed solely game he hunted during Last of the Mohicans? Did he demand being spoon-fed for My Left Foot?
Extreme acting methods: have we lost interest with over-the-top performances?
Currently, Daniel Day-Lewis is back in the limelight, somewhat reluctantly, for his new film Anemone. And he is taking this chance to express his frustration regarding how method acting is perceived. “I am somewhat annoyed these days when I hear various individuals talking carelessly and saying things like ‘fully embraced the Method’, which I think suggests that a person’s behaving like a lunatic in an extreme fashion,” he told the New York Times. “Everyone tends to focus on superficial details of the work, and those details typically include some form of self-punishment or an experience that imposes upon oneself extreme unease or mental instability. However, in the career for a performer, it has to principally be about the inner transformation.”
A World Full of Followers
To be honest, it appears like the actor has come out from seclusion and found himself aghast at the acting community that has been created in his image. When you are widely considered among the best actors in history, and your approach involves headbutting a dummy until you break your nose (for Gangs of New York) or spending 48 hours in isolation deprived of sustenance (for In the Name of the Father), then it stands to reason that fellow performers will attempt to fill that vacuum by imitating your hero.
In other words, we exist in a landscape populated by imperfect imitators of Day-Lewis who strive only to demonstrate the sheer amount of dedication they put into a character. On the milder side of the pool we have people like Lady Gaga, who was determined to earn an Academy Award for House of Gucci that she spent the whole campaign trying to convince everyone that she transformed into an Italian native for a year and a half as preparation.
Additionally, there is Jared Leto, who chose to immerse himself in the character of the Joker (in Suicide Squad) by sending “disturbing” gifts to fellow cast members. These items, depending on who you ask, included deceased animals to intimate objects and personal hygiene products, though Leto denied the most extreme claims. And then, of course, there is Jim Carrey, who immersed himself so fully as Andy Kaufman during Man on the Moon that they succeeded to get a full-length documentary out of B-roll of him causing difficulties as impossible as he could for everyone around him.
Contemporary Followers of the Method
The foremost practitioner of the Method currently would appear to be Jeremy Strong (once an assistant to Day-Lewis), whose process while filming Succession was so rigorously detailed that it formed the subject of a derisive New Yorker profile, full of quotes from people who were either concerned for his behaviour (“The toll on himself that worries me,” said co-star Brian Cox) or annoyed beyond all measure by it (“I recall [him] making others roll their eyes,” stated an unnamed co-star).
Daniel Day-Lewis claims he ‘did not plan to stop acting, really’
We have numerous additional cases. Andrew Garfield abstained from sex over half a year while preparing for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio rested inside an animal carcass during The Revenant. It’s quite possible that actor Austin Butler continues to talk in the style of Elvis, years following the movie’s release. Each of these instances, to some extent, aims to evoke the dedication in which Day-Lewis approaches his work.
A Noble Yet Challenging Fight
And, while his fightback to critics of the Method could be commendable, a brief promotional cycle might not be enough to change anyone’s mind, not to mention their behaviour. Perhaps if he wishes to make audiences recall what method acting is, or to show them what it can achieve, then the optimal strategy for Day-Lewis is to just start making more films. Surely everyone would get behind that.
