It has been quite some time since the public saw or heard from Daniel Day-Lewis. After he announcement in 2017 declaring he would no longer work as an actor, prior to the debut of Phantom Thread, the actor quietly faded from view. Yet, during his hiatus, his legend has only grown.
The Legend of His Method
Largely, this legend revolves around his preferred style of working. As someone who famously disappears into the roles he plays – for instance, while filming the Lincoln biopic, he had Steven Spielberg address him as “Mr. President” throughout the shoot – audiences has become increasingly obsessed with how he works. Is it true he actually sent texts to Sally Field as Abraham Lincoln? Did he only eat game he hunted for The Last of the Mohicans? And did he insist on receiving food via spoon for My Left Foot?
Madness in their method: have we lost interest with actorly excess?
Currently, Day-Lewis is back to public attention, somewhat reluctantly, promoting his latest movie Anemone. And he is using this to vocalise his frustration at how the Method technique is perceived. “I am somewhat annoyed these days to hear various individuals talking carelessly and saying things like ‘gone full method’, which seems is meant to imply that a person’s acting insane in a drastic way,” he told the New York Times. “Everyone tends to focus on the less important details of the work, and these elements typically include some sort of self-punishment or an experience that imposes upon oneself extreme unease or psychological strain. However, in the life for a performer, it must principally be about the inner transformation.”
An Industry Full of Followers
Frankly, it appears as if Day-Lewis has come out from his retreat and found himself shocked by the world that has been created in his image. If you’re regarded as among the best performers to ever work, and your process involves headbutting a dummy until you break your nose (for Gangs of New York) or enduring 48 hours in isolation without food or water (for In the Name of the Father), then it stands to reason that fellow performers will want to emulate that example by trying to mimic their idol.
In other words, 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. At the shallow end of this trend there are performers such as 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 became functionally Italian for a year and a half in preparation.
Additionally, there is Jared Leto, who chose to deeply embed himself into the role as the Joker (for Suicide Squad) by sending “horrifying” presents to his castmates. These items, according to various accounts, range from dead pigs and rats to intimate objects and personal hygiene products, though Leto denied the most extreme claims. And then, naturally, there is Jim Carrey, who went so deep as Andy Kaufman during Man on the Moon that filmmakers literally managed to get a full-length documentary from behind-the-scenes footage of him making life to the utmost for everyone around him.
The Modern Followers of the Method
The foremost Method Guy currently would appear to be Jeremy Strong (formerly an assistant to Day-Lewis), whose approach while filming Succession was so rigorously detailed that it became the basis of a critical New Yorker profile, full of quotes from individuals who were either concerned for his behaviour (“It’s the cost to himself that worries me,” said co-star Brian Cox) or extremely irritated by it (“I remember him causing others roll their eyes,” stated an anonymous cast member).
The actor says he ‘never intended to retire, truly’
There are so many other examples. Andrew Garfield went celibate over half a year for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio slept in an animal carcass during The Revenant. It’s quite possible that Austin Butler still speaks like Elvis Presley, years following the movie’s release. All of this, in part, is meant to invoke the seriousness with which Day-Lewis approaches his craft.
An Admirable But Uphill Fight
Moreover, although his rebuttal to critics of the Method could be commendable, a short publicity tour may prove insufficient to alter perceptions, let alone their practices. Perhaps if he wishes to remind people what method acting is, or to show them what it can achieve, then the optimal strategy for Day-Lewis is to simply start making more films. Certainly everyone would get behind that.
