🔗 Share this article

It’s been quite some time since the public saw or heard from the acclaimed actor Daniel Day-Lewis. After he statement in 2017 declaring he would no longer work as an actor, prior to the debut of Phantom Thread, the actor quietly faded from view. However, in his absence, his legend has only grown.

The Legend of His Method

Largely, this reputation revolves around his preferred approach to roles. As someone who famously disappears into the roles he plays – for instance, while filming the Lincoln biopic, reportedly asked Steven Spielberg call him “Mr. President” throughout the shoot – audiences has become more fascinated with how he works. Is it true he actually sent texts to Sally Field in character as Lincoln? Did he only eat animals he’d killed for Last of the Mohicans? Did he demand being spoon-fed for My Left Foot?

Extreme acting methods: has the public lost interest with over-the-top performances?

Currently, Day-Lewis is back in the limelight, somewhat reluctantly, promoting his latest movie Anemone. And he is using this to vocalise his anger at how the Method technique is perceived. “I’m a little cross these days to hear all kinds of people gobbling off and using phrases like ‘gone full method’, which seems suggests that someone is behaving like a lunatic in a drastic way,” he told a major publication. “Everyone tends to focus on the less important details of the work, and these elements typically include some sort of self-flagellation or an experience that imposes upon oneself a severe discomfort or mental instability. However, in the life of an actor, it has to principally be about the internal work.”

An Industry of Imitators

Frankly, it appears like the actor has come out from seclusion and found himself aghast at the world that has developed in his image. When you are widely considered one of the greatest performers in history, and your approach involves headbutting a dummy to the point of injury (for Gangs of New York) or enduring 48 hours in isolation without food or water (for In the Name of the Father), it’s natural that other actors will want to fill that vacuum by trying to mimic their idol.

In other words, we now live in an environment populated by imperfect Day-Lewis impersonators who strive only to demonstrate the sheer amount of effort they put into a character. At the shallow end of the pool we have people like Lady Gaga, who was so desperate to earn an Academy Award with House of Gucci that she spent the entire promotion attempting to persuade people that she transformed into an Italian native over 18 months in preparation.

Additionally, there is Jared Leto, who chose to deeply embed himself in the character of the Joker (for Suicide Squad) through sending “horrifying” presents to fellow cast members. These, according to various accounts, included deceased animals to intimate objects and personal hygiene products, though the actor refuted those worst excesses. Then, of course, there is Jim Carrey, who immersed himself so fully as Andy Kaufman during Man on the Moon that filmmakers succeeded to get a full-length documentary out of B-roll of him making life to the utmost for his colleagues.

Contemporary Followers of the Method

The main Method Guy currently would appear to be Jeremy Strong (once an assistant to Day-Lewis), whose approach while filming Succession was so laboriously intensive that it became the basis of a critical New Yorker profile, including statements from people who were worried about his conduct (“The toll to himself concerns me,” remarked co-star Brian Cox) or extremely irritated by it (“I recall him causing everyone else to react with exasperation,” stated an anonymous cast member).

The actor claims he ‘did not plan to stop acting, really’

There are numerous additional cases. Andrew Garfield abstained from sex over half a year while preparing for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio rested inside an animal carcass for The Revenant. It’s quite possible that Austin Butler still speaks like Elvis Presley, three years after the movie’s release. All of this, in part, aims to evoke the dedication in which Day-Lewis approaches his work.

A Noble Yet Challenging Fight

Moreover, although his rebuttal to critics of the Method might be noble, a brief promotional cycle may prove insufficient to alter perceptions, let alone their practices. Perhaps if he wishes to remind people what method acting is, or to demonstrate its potential results, then the optimal strategy for Day-Lewis is to just begin producing additional movies. Certainly we could all support that idea.