It’s been quite some time since the public caught a glimpse of the acclaimed actor Daniel Day-Lewis. After he announcement in 2017 declaring he would cease to pursue acting, prior to the debut of Phantom Thread, Day-Lewis withdrew from the spotlight. However, in his absence, his legend expanded further.
The Legend Surrounding His Acting Method
Primarily, this legend revolves around his favored style of working. Being an actor who famously disappears into his characters – for example, during the Lincoln biopic, he had Steven Spielberg address him as “Mr President” for the entire production – audiences has become more fascinated with his process. Did he actually sent messages to co-star Sally Field in character as Lincoln? Was it accurate that he consumed solely game he hunted for The Last of the Mohicans? And did he insist on being spoon-fed while filming My Left Foot?
Extreme acting methods: has the public lost interest with actorly excess?
Now, Day-Lewis has returned in the limelight, somewhat reluctantly, promoting his latest movie Anemone. He is using this to vocalise his frustration at how the Method technique is viewed. “I’m a little cross nowadays when I hear all kinds of people gobbling off and using phrases like ‘gone full method’, which I think suggests that a person’s behaving like a lunatic in an extreme fashion,” he told the New York Times. “People tends to focus on the less important aspects of acting, and those details typically include some sort of self-punishment or an experience that imposes upon oneself extreme unease or mental instability. However, in the career of an actor, it must mainly focus on the internal work.”
An Industry Full of Followers
Frankly, it appears as if the actor has come out from seclusion and found himself aghast at the acting community that has been created mirroring his methods. If you’re widely considered among the best performers to ever work, and your approach includes striking a prop to the point of injury (in Gangs of New York) or enduring 48 hours in isolation without food or water (during In the Name of the Father), it’s natural that other actors will attempt to fill that vacuum by trying to mimic your hero.
Essentially, we now live in an environment populated by half-cocked Day-Lewis impersonators who want nothing more than to show the world the sheer amount of dedication they invest in a character. On the milder side of this trend there are performers such as Lady Gaga, who was so desperate to win an Oscar with House of Gucci that she spent the entire promotion trying to convince everyone that she became functionally Italian for a year and a half as preparation.
Additionally, there is Jared Leto, who decided to immerse himself into the role as the Joker (in Suicide Squad) by sending “disturbing” gifts to fellow cast members. These, according to various accounts, range from deceased animals to anal beads and used condoms, though the actor refuted the most extreme claims. And then, naturally, we have Jim Carrey, who immersed himself so fully as Andy Kaufman for Man on the Moon that they literally managed in creating a full-length documentary from behind-the-scenes footage of him making life to the utmost for his colleagues.
Contemporary Method Practitioners
The main Method Guy at the moment seems to be Jeremy Strong (formerly Day-Lewis’s assistant), whose approach while filming Succession was so rigorously detailed that it became the subject of a critical magazine feature, including statements from people who were either concerned about his conduct (“It’s the cost to himself that worries me,” said co-star Brian Cox) or annoyed beyond all measure by his actions (“I remember [him] making everyone else roll their eyes,” stated an anonymous cast member).
Daniel Day-Lewis says he ‘did not plan to stop acting, really’
There are numerous additional cases. Andrew Garfield went celibate over half a year while preparing for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio rested inside a dead animal for The Revenant. There’s a fighting chance that actor Austin Butler still speaks in the style of Elvis, three years after that film came out. Each of these instances, in part, aims to evoke the dedication in which Day-Lewis approaches his work.
An Admirable Yet Challenging Battle
Moreover, although his rebuttal to critics of the Method might be noble, a brief promotional cycle might not be enough to alter perceptions, let alone their practices. Maybe if he wishes to make audiences recall what method acting is, or to demonstrate its potential results, then Day-Lewis’s best bet is to just begin producing additional movies. Surely everyone would support that idea.
