It has been a long while since the public saw or heard from Daniel Day-Lewis. Following his announcement in 2017 that he would no longer work as an actor, just before the debut of Phantom Thread, Day-Lewis quietly faded from view. However, during his hiatus, his reputation expanded further.
The Legend of His Method
Primarily, this legend revolves around his preferred style of working. Being an actor who famously disappears into the roles he plays – for instance, while filming Lincoln, reportedly asked the director call him “Mr. President” for the entire production – the world has grown increasingly obsessed with how he works. Did he actually sent texts to Sally Field as Abraham Lincoln? Was it accurate that he only eat game he hunted during The Last of the Mohicans? Did he insist on receiving food via spoon while filming My Left Foot?
Madness in their method: have we fallen out of love with over-the-top performances?
Currently, Daniel Day-Lewis is back to public attention, somewhat reluctantly, promoting his latest movie Anemone. And he is taking this chance to express his frustration regarding how the Method technique is perceived. “I’m a little cross nowadays when I hear various individuals gobbling off and using phrases like ‘gone full method’, which seems is meant to imply that someone is acting insane in an extreme fashion,” he stated to a major publication. “Everyone often concentrate on superficial aspects of acting, and these elements always seem to involve some sort of self-flagellation or an experience that imposes upon oneself extreme unease or mental instability. But of course, in the career for a performer, it must principally be about the internal work.”
An Industry Full of Followers
Frankly, this sounds as if the actor has emerged from his retreat and found himself shocked by the world that has developed in his image. When you are widely considered one of the greatest performers in history, and your process includes headbutting a dummy to the point of injury (for Gangs of New York) or spending 48 hours in isolation without food or water (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 exist in a landscape populated by half-cocked imitators of Day-Lewis who strive only to demonstrate the sheer amount of effort they invest in a character. On the milder side of this trend we have people like Lady Gaga, who was determined to win an Oscar for House of Gucci that she spent the whole campaign trying to convince everyone that she transformed into functionally Italian for a year and a half in preparation.
Additionally, there is Jared Leto, who decided to immerse himself in the character as the Joker (in Suicide Squad) through sending “horrifying” gifts to fellow cast members. These items, depending on who you ask, included deceased animals to anal beads and personal hygiene products, although the actor refuted those worst excesses. And then, of course, there is Jim Carrey, who immersed himself so fully as Andy Kaufman during Man on the Moon that they literally managed to get a feature-length documentary out of B-roll of him causing difficulties as impossible as he could for his colleagues.
Contemporary Followers of the Method
The foremost Method Guy at the moment would appear to be Jeremy Strong (formerly Day-Lewis’s assistant), whose approach during Succession was so laboriously intensive that it became the subject of a derisive magazine feature, full of quotes from people who were worried about his conduct (“It’s the cost to himself concerns me,” said Brian Cox) or annoyed beyond all measure by it (“I remember him causing others roll their eyes,” said an unnamed co-star).
The actor claims he ‘did not plan to retire, really’
We have numerous additional cases. Andrew Garfield went celibate over half a year while preparing for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio slept in an animal carcass during The Revenant. There’s a fighting chance that Austin Butler still speaks like Elvis Presley, years following the movie’s release. Each of these instances, in part, aims to evoke the seriousness with which Day-Lewis approaches his work.
An Admirable But Uphill Fight
Moreover, while his fightback to critics of the Method might be noble, a short publicity tour may prove insufficient to alter perceptions, not to mention their practices. Perhaps if he wants to remind people the true essence of the Method, or to demonstrate its potential results, then Day-Lewis’s best bet is to just begin producing additional movies. Certainly everyone would support that idea.
