The Renowned Actor Expresses Annoyance Over Method Acting Being Compared to ‘Behaving Like a Lunatic’ – Which Is Precisely the Reason We Love It

It’s been a long while since the public caught a glimpse of the acclaimed actor Daniel Day-Lewis. After he announcement in 2017 declaring he would cease to work as an actor, prior to the release of Phantom Thread, the actor withdrew from the spotlight. Yet, in his absence, his reputation expanded further.

The Legend of His Method

Primarily, this legend centers on his favored style of working. As someone known for immerses himself in the roles he plays – for instance, while filming Lincoln, reportedly asked the director call him “Mr. President” throughout the shoot – audiences has grown more fascinated with his process. Is it true he really send messages to co-star Sally Field in character as Lincoln? Was it accurate that he consumed solely animals he’d killed for The Last of the Mohicans? Did he insist on being spoon-fed for My Left Foot?

Extreme acting methods: has the public fallen out of love with actorly excess?

Now, Daniel Day-Lewis has returned to public attention, somewhat reluctantly, promoting his latest movie Anemone. And he is using this to express his anger regarding how the Method technique is perceived. “I am somewhat annoyed these days to hear all kinds of people talking carelessly and saying things like ‘fully embraced the Method’, which seems suggests that a person’s acting insane in a drastic way,” he told a major publication. “Everyone often concentrate on superficial aspects of acting, and those details always seem to involve some sort of self-punishment or a situation that causes extreme unease or psychological strain. However, in the career of an actor, it has to principally be about the internal work.”

An Industry of Imitators

Frankly, this sounds like Day-Lewis has emerged from seclusion only to discover shocked by the acting community that has been created mirroring his methods. When you are widely considered among the best actors to ever work, and your process involves striking a prop until you break your nose (for Gangs of New York) or spending two days in isolation deprived of sustenance (during In the Name of the Father), it’s natural that other actors will want to emulate that example by imitating your hero.

In other words, we now live in a landscape populated by half-cocked imitators of Day-Lewis who strive only to demonstrate the extensive degree of effort they put into a character. On the milder side of the pool there are performers such as Lady Gaga, who was so desperate to earn an Academy Award for House of Gucci that she spent the whole campaign trying to convince everyone that she transformed into an Italian native over 18 months as preparation.

Additionally, there is Jared Leto, who decided to immerse himself into the role as the Joker (for Suicide Squad) through sending “disturbing” presents to fellow cast members. These, according to various accounts, included dead pigs and rats to anal beads and personal hygiene products, although 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 filmmakers literally managed in creating 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 foremost Method Guy at the moment would appear to be Jeremy Strong (once Day-Lewis’s assistant), whose approach while filming Succession was so rigorously detailed that it formed the subject of a critical New Yorker profile, full of quotes from individuals who were either concerned for his behaviour (“The toll to himself that worries me,” said co-star Brian Cox) or annoyed beyond all measure by it (“I remember him causing others roll their eyes,” said an anonymous cast member).

Daniel Day-Lewis claims he ‘never intended to retire, really’

There are so many other examples. Andrew Garfield went celibate for six months for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio slept in an animal carcass for The Revenant. It’s quite possible that actor Austin Butler continues to talk like Elvis Presley, three years after that film came out. All of this, to some extent, aims to evoke the seriousness in which Day-Lewis approaches his work.

An Admirable Yet Challenging Battle

And, while his fightback to critics of the Method could be commendable, a short publicity tour might not be enough to alter perceptions, not to mention their practices. Maybe if he wishes to make audiences recall the true essence of the Method, or to demonstrate what it can achieve, then Day-Lewis’s best bet is to just start making additional movies. Certainly we could all support that idea.