It has been quite some time since anyone saw or heard from the acclaimed actor Daniel Day-Lewis. After he announcement in 2017 declaring he would cease to pursue acting, prior to the release of The Phantom Thread, Day-Lewis withdrew from the spotlight. However, in his absence, his legend has only grown.
The Mythos of His Acting Method
Primarily, this legend revolves around his preferred approach to roles. As someone known for disappears into his characters – for instance, while filming Lincoln, he had the director call him “Mr. President” for the entire production – the world has become increasingly obsessed with his process. Did he actually sent texts to Sally Field as Abraham Lincoln? Did he only eat game he hunted for Last of the Mohicans? Did he demand receiving food via spoon for My Left Foot?
Madness in their method: have we fallen out of love with actorly excess?
Currently, Day-Lewis has returned in the limelight, with some hesitation, for his new film Anemone. He is using this to express his anger at how the Method technique is viewed. “I am somewhat annoyed these days when I hear all kinds of people talking carelessly and using phrases like ‘gone full method’, which seems is meant to imply that a person’s behaving like a lunatic in a drastic way,” he stated to a major publication. “People tends to focus on the less important aspects of acting, and these elements typically include some form of self-flagellation or an experience that causes a severe discomfort or mental instability. But of course, in the career for a performer, it must principally be about the internal work.”
An Industry of Imitators
Frankly, this sounds like Day-Lewis has come out from his retreat only to discover shocked by the world that has developed mirroring his methods. When you are regarded as among the best performers in history, and your process involves headbutting a dummy until you break your nose (for 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 fellow performers will attempt to fill that vacuum by imitating their idol.
Essentially, we now live in an environment populated by imperfect Day-Lewis impersonators who strive only to demonstrate the extensive degree of dedication they put into their roles. At the shallow end of the pool there are performers such as Lady Gaga, who was determined to earn an Academy Award with House of Gucci that she spent the entire promotion trying to convince everyone that she became functionally Italian over 18 months as preparation.
Additionally, there is Jared Leto, who chose to immerse himself in the character of the Joker (for Suicide Squad) by sending “disturbing” presents to his castmates. These items, according to various accounts, included dead pigs and rats to intimate objects and personal hygiene products, although Leto denied the most extreme claims. And then, of course, there is Jim Carrey, who immersed himself so fully into Andy Kaufman for Man on the Moon that they succeeded to get a full-length documentary from behind-the-scenes footage of him making life as impossible as he could for everyone around him.
Contemporary Method Practitioners
The foremost Method Guy currently would appear to be Jeremy Strong (formerly an assistant to Day-Lewis), whose approach during Succession was so rigorously detailed that it became the subject of a critical New Yorker profile, full of quotes from people who were worried about his conduct (“It’s the cost to himself concerns me,” said co-star Brian Cox) or extremely irritated by his actions (“I remember him causing everyone else to react with exasperation,” said an anonymous cast member).
The actor claims he ‘did not plan to retire, truly’
We have so many other examples. Andrew Garfield abstained from sex over half a year while preparing for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio rested inside a dead animal for The Revenant. There’s a fighting chance that Austin Butler still speaks in the style of Elvis, years following that film came out. Each of these instances, in part, aims to evoke the dedication with which Day-Lewis takes his work.
An Admirable But Uphill Battle
Moreover, although his rebuttal against method detractors might be noble, a brief promotional cycle may prove insufficient to alter perceptions, let alone their behaviour. Maybe if he wants to remind people the true essence of the Method, or to demonstrate its potential results, then the optimal strategy for Day-Lewis is to simply begin producing additional movies. Certainly we could all support that idea.
