Daniel Day-Lewis Expresses Frustration Over The Method Approach Being Compared to ‘Acting Insanely’ – Which Is Exactly Why It Captivates Us

It’s 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, prior to the release of The Phantom Thread, the actor quietly faded from view. However, in his absence, his legend has only grown.

The Legend of His Acting Method

Primarily, this reputation revolves around his preferred style of working. Being an actor known for disappears into his characters – for example, during the Lincoln biopic, reportedly asked Steven Spielberg address him as “Mr. President” for the entire production – audiences has grown more fascinated with his process. Did he really send messages to co-star Sally Field as Abraham Lincoln? Did he consumed solely game he hunted for Last of the Mohicans? And did he insist on receiving food via spoon for My Left Foot?

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

Currently, Day-Lewis has returned to public attention, with some hesitation, promoting his latest movie Anemone. And he is taking this chance to express his anger regarding how method acting is viewed. “I’m a little cross these days when I hear all kinds of people talking carelessly and using phrases like ‘gone full method’, which I think suggests that a person’s acting insane in an extreme fashion,” he told the New York Times. “People tends to focus on superficial details of the work, and those details always seem to involve some sort of self-flagellation or a situation that imposes upon oneself a severe discomfort or psychological strain. However, in the career of an actor, it has to mainly focus on the inner transformation.”

An Industry Full of Followers

Frankly, it appears like the actor has come out from his retreat and found himself shocked by the world that has been created in his image. When you are regarded as one of the greatest actors to ever work, and your approach involves headbutting a dummy to the point of injury (in Gangs of New York) or enduring two days in isolation without food or water (during In the Name of the Father), it’s natural that other actors will attempt to emulate that example by imitating their idol.

Essentially, we now live in a landscape populated by half-cocked Day-Lewis impersonators who strive only to demonstrate the extensive degree of effort 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 dedicated the whole campaign attempting to persuade people that she became functionally Italian for a year and a half as preparation.

Then we have Jared Leto, who chose to deeply embed himself in the character of the Joker (in Suicide Squad) through sending “horrifying” gifts to fellow cast members. These items, depending on who you ask, range from dead pigs and rats to anal beads and used condoms, though Leto denied those worst excesses. And then, of course, we have Jim Carrey, who went so deep as Andy Kaufman for Man on the Moon that they succeeded in creating a feature-length documentary from behind-the-scenes footage of him making life as impossible as he could for everyone around him.

The Modern Followers of the Method

The foremost practitioner of the Method at the moment would appear to be Jeremy Strong (once Day-Lewis’s assistant), whose process while filming Succession was so rigorously detailed that it became the subject of a derisive magazine feature, full of quotes from individuals who were worried for his behaviour (“It’s the cost on himself concerns me,” said co-star Brian Cox) or extremely irritated by his actions (“I remember [him] making everyone else roll their eyes,” said an unnamed co-star).

Daniel Day-Lewis claims he ‘did not plan to retire, really’

We have so many other examples. Andrew Garfield abstained from sex over half a year for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio rested inside an animal carcass for The Revenant. There’s a fighting chance that Austin Butler continues to talk in the style of Elvis, three years after the movie’s release. All of this, to some extent, is meant to invoke the dedication in which Day-Lewis takes his craft.

A Noble Yet Challenging Fight

And, although his rebuttal against method detractors might be noble, a short publicity tour may prove insufficient to alter perceptions, not to mention their practices. Perhaps if he wants to make audiences recall the true essence of the Method, or to show them what it can achieve, then the optimal strategy for Day-Lewis is to simply start making additional movies. Certainly everyone would support that idea.