It’s been a long while since the public caught a glimpse of the acclaimed actor Daniel Day-Lewis. After he statement in 2017 that he would cease to pursue acting, prior to the debut of Phantom Thread, the actor withdrew from the spotlight. However, in his absence, his reputation has only grown.
The Legend of His Method
Primarily, this legend centers on his preferred style of working. As someone known for disappears into the roles he plays – for instance, while filming the Lincoln biopic, he had Steven Spielberg address him as “Mr. President” throughout the shoot – the world has become increasingly obsessed with his process. Did he actually sent texts to Sally Field as Abraham Lincoln? Was it accurate that he consumed solely animals he’d killed during Last of the Mohicans? And did he demand being spoon-fed for My Left Foot?
Extreme acting methods: has the public lost interest with over-the-top performances?
Currently, Day-Lewis is back in the limelight, somewhat reluctantly, promoting his latest movie Anemone. And he is using this to express his frustration regarding how method acting is viewed. “I’m a little cross nowadays when I hear various individuals gobbling off and saying things like ‘gone full method’, which seems is meant to imply that a person’s acting insane in an extreme fashion,” he stated to the New York Times. “People often concentrate on superficial details of the work, and these elements typically include some form of self-flagellation or a situation that causes 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, this sounds like the actor has emerged from his retreat only to discover aghast at the acting community that has developed in his image. If you’re regarded as among the best performers in history, and your process involves striking a prop to the point of injury (in 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 other actors will attempt to emulate that example by trying to mimic your hero.
In other words, we now live in a landscape populated by half-cocked imitators of Day-Lewis who want nothing more than to show the world 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 with House of Gucci that she dedicated the whole campaign 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 immerse himself in the character of the Joker (in Suicide Squad) through sending “horrifying” gifts to fellow cast members. These items, according to various accounts, included deceased animals to intimate objects and used condoms, though Leto denied the most extreme claims. Then, of course, there is Jim Carrey, who went so deep into Andy Kaufman during Man on the Moon that filmmakers succeeded in creating a feature-length documentary out of B-roll of him causing difficulties to the utmost for everyone around him.
The Modern Followers of the Method
The main practitioner of the Method at the moment would appear to be Jeremy Strong (once an assistant to Day-Lewis), whose approach while filming Succession was so laboriously intensive that it became the subject of a critical magazine feature, full of quotes from individuals who were either concerned for his behaviour (“It’s the cost on himself concerns me,” said co-star Brian Cox) or extremely irritated by it (“I remember him causing others to react with exasperation,” said an anonymous cast member).
Daniel Day-Lewis says he ‘never intended to stop acting, truly’
We have so many other examples. Andrew Garfield abstained from sex over half a year for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio rested inside a dead animal for The Revenant. There’s a fighting chance that Austin Butler still speaks like Elvis Presley, three years after the movie’s release. All of this, in part, aims to evoke the dedication with which Day-Lewis approaches his craft.
An Admirable But Uphill Battle
Moreover, although his rebuttal against method detractors might be noble, a short publicity tour may prove insufficient to change anyone’s mind, not to mention their behaviour. Maybe if he wants to make audiences recall 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. Certainly we could all get behind that.
