It has been quite some time since the public caught a glimpse of Daniel Day-Lewis. After he statement in 2017 declaring he would cease to work as an actor, just before the release of The Phantom Thread, the actor withdrew from the spotlight. However, in his absence, his reputation expanded further.
The Legend Surrounding His Acting Method
Largely, this reputation centers on his preferred style of working. As someone known for disappears into the roles he plays – 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. Is it true he actually sent texts to Sally Field as Abraham Lincoln? Was it accurate that he only eat animals he’d killed for The Last of the Mohicans? Did he insist on being spoon-fed while filming My Left Foot?
Extreme acting methods: have we fallen out of love with actorly excess?
Now, Daniel Day-Lewis has returned to public attention, with some hesitation, for his new film Anemone. He is using this to express his anger at how the Method technique is viewed. “I am somewhat annoyed these days when I hear all kinds of people talking carelessly and saying things like ‘fully embraced the Method’, which seems is meant to imply that a person’s acting insane in an extreme fashion,” he stated to a major publication. “Everyone tends to focus on the less important details of the work, and those details always seem to involve some sort of self-punishment or an experience that imposes upon oneself extreme unease or psychological strain. However, in the career of an actor, it must mainly focus on the internal work.”
A World of Imitators
To be honest, this sounds as if the actor has emerged from his retreat and found himself aghast at the acting community that has developed 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 enduring two days in solitary confinement deprived of sustenance (for In the Name of the Father), then it stands to reason that fellow performers will want to emulate that example by imitating your hero.
Essentially, we now live in a landscape populated by imperfect imitators of Day-Lewis who strive only to demonstrate the extensive degree of effort they invest in a character. On the milder side of this trend 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 trying to convince everyone that she transformed into an Italian native for a year and a half in preparation.
Additionally, there is Jared Leto, who decided to deeply embed himself into the role as the Joker (for Suicide Squad) through sending “horrifying” gifts to fellow cast members. These, according to various accounts, included dead pigs and rats to intimate objects and used condoms, though the actor refuted those worst excesses. Then, naturally, there is Jim Carrey, who immersed himself so fully into Andy Kaufman for Man on the Moon that filmmakers succeeded to get a feature-length documentary out of B-roll of him causing difficulties to the utmost for his colleagues.
The Modern Followers of the Method
The main practitioner of the Method currently would appear to be Jeremy Strong (formerly an assistant to Day-Lewis), whose process during Succession was so laboriously intensive that it became the basis of a critical New Yorker profile, including statements from individuals who were worried about his conduct (“The toll to himself that worries me,” said Brian Cox) or annoyed beyond all measure by it (“I remember [him] making others to react with exasperation,” said an anonymous cast member).
Daniel Day-Lewis claims he ‘did not plan to retire, truly’
We have so many other examples. Andrew Garfield abstained from sex over half a year while preparing for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio rested inside a dead animal for The Revenant. It’s quite possible that Austin Butler still speaks like Elvis Presley, years following that film came out. All of this, in part, aims to evoke the dedication in which Day-Lewis takes his craft.
An Admirable But Uphill Fight
And, although his rebuttal to critics of the Method could be commendable, a short publicity tour might not be enough to alter perceptions, let alone their practices. Perhaps if he wishes to make audiences recall the true essence of the Method, or to demonstrate its potential results, then the optimal strategy for Day-Lewis is to just begin producing more films. Certainly everyone would support that idea.
