🔗 Share this article

It’s been a long while since the public saw or heard from the acclaimed actor Daniel Day-Lewis. After he announcement in 2017 declaring he would cease to work as an actor, prior to the release of Phantom Thread, Day-Lewis quietly faded from view. However, during his hiatus, his reputation has only grown.

The Legend Surrounding His Method

Largely, this legend centers on his preferred approach to roles. Being an actor known for immerses himself in his characters – for example, during Lincoln, reportedly asked Steven Spielberg call him “Mr President” throughout the shoot – the world has grown more fascinated with his process. Did he actually sent messages to co-star Sally Field as Abraham Lincoln? Did he consumed solely animals he’d killed during Last of the Mohicans? And did he insist on being spoon-fed while filming My Left Foot?

Madness in their method: have we lost interest with actorly excess?

Now, Daniel Day-Lewis is back to public attention, with some hesitation, for his new film Anemone. And he is using this to vocalise his frustration regarding how method acting is perceived. “I am somewhat annoyed these days to hear all kinds of people talking carelessly and saying things like ‘fully embraced the Method’, which I think suggests that someone is behaving like a lunatic in a drastic way,” he stated to a major publication. “People often concentrate on the less important details of the work, and these elements always seem to involve some sort of self-punishment or an experience that causes extreme unease or psychological strain. But of course, in the career of an actor, it must mainly focus on the internal work.”

A World Full of Followers

Frankly, this sounds like the actor has come out from seclusion only to discover aghast at the acting community that has developed mirroring his methods. When you are widely considered among the best performers in history, and your approach involves headbutting a dummy to the point of injury (for Gangs of New York) or enduring two days in isolation without food or water (during In the Name of the Father), then it stands to reason that fellow performers will want to fill that vacuum by imitating your hero.

Essentially, we now live in an environment full of half-cocked imitators of Day-Lewis who want nothing more than to demonstrate the extensive degree of effort they put into their roles. At the shallow end of the pool we have people like Lady Gaga, who was determined to earn an Academy Award with House of Gucci that she spent the whole campaign attempting to persuade people that she became functionally Italian for a year and a half as preparation.

Then we have Jared Leto, who chose to deeply embed himself in the character as the Joker (for Suicide Squad) by sending “horrifying” gifts to fellow cast members. These items, depending on who you ask, range from deceased animals to anal beads and personal hygiene products, though Leto denied the most extreme claims. Then, of course, there is Jim Carrey, who went so deep into Andy Kaufman for Man on the Moon that filmmakers succeeded to get a full-length documentary from behind-the-scenes footage of him causing difficulties as impossible as he could for everyone around him.

The Modern Followers of the Method

The main Method Guy at the moment seems to be Jeremy Strong (once an assistant to Day-Lewis), whose process during Succession was so rigorously detailed that it became the subject of a critical New Yorker profile, full of quotes from individuals who were worried for his behaviour (“It’s the cost to himself concerns me,” said Brian Cox) or annoyed beyond all measure by his actions (“I remember him causing others to react with exasperation,” said an unnamed co-star).

The actor says he ‘never intended to retire, really’

We have so many other examples. Andrew Garfield abstained from sex for six months for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio rested inside an animal carcass for The Revenant. It’s quite possible that Austin Butler continues to talk like Elvis Presley, years following the movie’s release. All of this, to some extent, aims to evoke the dedication with which Day-Lewis approaches his work.

An Admirable Yet Challenging Fight

Moreover, while his fightback against method detractors might be noble, a short publicity tour might not be enough to change anyone’s mind, not to mention their behaviour. Perhaps if he wishes to remind people the true essence of the Method, or to show them its potential results, then Day-Lewis’s best bet is to just start making additional movies. Certainly everyone would support that idea.