It has been quite some time since the public caught a glimpse of Daniel Day-Lewis. After he announcement in 2017 that he would no longer pursue acting, prior to the release of The Phantom Thread, Day-Lewis withdrew from the spotlight. Yet, during his hiatus, his legend expanded further.
The Mythos of His Acting Method
Largely, this legend centers on his favored approach to roles. As someone known for immerses himself in the roles he plays – for example, during Lincoln, he had Steven Spielberg address him as “Mr President” for the entire production – audiences has grown increasingly obsessed with his process. Is it true he actually sent texts to Sally Field as Abraham Lincoln? Did he consumed solely game he hunted during The Last of the Mohicans? Did he demand receiving food via spoon while filming My Left Foot?
Extreme acting methods: have we lost interest with over-the-top performances?
Currently, Daniel Day-Lewis has returned in the limelight, with some hesitation, promoting his latest movie Anemone. He is using this to vocalise his frustration regarding how method acting is perceived. “I’m a little cross nowadays when I hear various individuals gobbling off and saying things like ‘fully embraced the Method’, which seems is meant to imply that a person’s behaving like a lunatic in an extreme fashion,” he told the New York Times. “Everyone often concentrate on superficial details of the work, and these elements typically include some form of self-punishment or an experience that imposes upon oneself a severe discomfort or psychological strain. However, in the career of an actor, it has to principally be about the internal work.”
A World of Imitators
Frankly, it appears like Day-Lewis has emerged from seclusion only to discover shocked by the acting community that has been created in his image. When you are regarded as among the best performers to ever work, and your process involves striking a prop until you break your nose (for Gangs of New York) or spending 48 hours in solitary confinement without food or water (for In the Name of the Father), then it stands to reason that fellow performers will attempt to fill that vacuum by trying to mimic their idol.
In other words, we exist in a landscape populated by imperfect Day-Lewis impersonators who want nothing more than to demonstrate the sheer amount of dedication they put into their roles. On the milder side of this trend there are performers such as Lady Gaga, who was so desperate to earn an Academy Award with House of Gucci that she dedicated the entire promotion trying to convince everyone that she became an Italian native over 18 months as preparation.
Then we have Jared Leto, who chose to immerse himself into the role as the Joker (for Suicide Squad) by sending “disturbing” gifts to his castmates. These, according to various accounts, range from dead pigs and rats to intimate objects and used condoms, although the actor refuted those worst excesses. And then, naturally, we have Jim Carrey, who went so deep as Andy Kaufman for Man on the Moon that filmmakers literally managed in creating a full-length documentary from behind-the-scenes footage of him making life to the utmost for everyone around him.
Contemporary Method Practitioners
The main practitioner of the Method currently would appear to be Jeremy Strong (once an assistant to Day-Lewis), whose approach while filming Succession was so rigorously detailed that it became the basis of a derisive New Yorker profile, full of quotes from individuals who were worried for his behaviour (“It’s the cost to himself concerns me,” remarked Brian Cox) or annoyed beyond all measure by it (“I recall [him] making everyone else roll their eyes,” stated an anonymous cast member).
Daniel Day-Lewis claims he ‘never intended to retire, truly’
We have numerous additional cases. Andrew Garfield went celibate over half a year while preparing for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio slept in an animal carcass for The Revenant. It’s quite possible that actor Austin Butler continues to talk in the style of Elvis, three years after that film came out. All of this, in part, is meant to invoke the dedication with which Day-Lewis approaches his work.
An Admirable Yet Challenging Fight
And, while his fightback against method detractors could be commendable, a short publicity tour may prove insufficient to alter perceptions, not to mention their behaviour. Perhaps if he wishes to make audiences recall the true essence of the Method, or to demonstrate its potential results, then Day-Lewis’s best bet is to just start making more films. Certainly we could all support that idea.
