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It has been a long while since the public caught a glimpse of Daniel Day-Lewis. Following his announcement in 2017 declaring he would no longer pursue acting, prior to the release of The Phantom Thread, Day-Lewis quietly faded from view. Yet, in his absence, his legend has only grown.

The Legend of His Acting Method

Largely, this legend centers on his favored style of working. Being an actor known for immerses himself in the roles he plays – for example, during Lincoln, he had the director call him “Mr. President” throughout the shoot – the world 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 consumed solely game he hunted for Last of the Mohicans? Did he insist on being spoon-fed while filming My Left Foot?

Madness in their method: have we fallen out of love with actorly excess?

Currently, Day-Lewis is back in the limelight, with some hesitation, for his new film Anemone. He is taking this chance to vocalise his anger at how method acting is perceived. “I am somewhat annoyed nowadays when I hear various individuals talking carelessly and using phrases like ‘fully embraced the Method’, which seems is meant to imply that someone is behaving like a lunatic in a drastic way,” he stated to a major publication. “Everyone tends to focus on superficial aspects of acting, and those details typically include some form of self-punishment or an experience that imposes upon oneself extreme unease or mental instability. But of course, in the career for a performer, it has to principally be about the internal work.”

A World Full of Followers

To be honest, it appears as if the actor has emerged from seclusion and found himself shocked by the world that has been created in his image. When you are regarded as among the best actors in history, and your approach involves striking a prop until you break your nose (in Gangs of New York) or spending two days in solitary confinement deprived of sustenance (during In the Name of the Father), it’s natural that fellow performers will want to emulate that example by trying to mimic your hero.

Essentially, we exist in an environment full of imperfect imitators of Day-Lewis who strive only to demonstrate the sheer amount of effort they put into their roles. On the milder side of this trend we have people like Lady Gaga, who was determined to earn an Academy Award for House of Gucci that she dedicated the whole campaign attempting to persuade people that she became an Italian native over 18 months in preparation.

Then we have Jared Leto, who decided to immerse himself in the character as the Joker (in Suicide Squad) by sending “horrifying” gifts to his castmates. These, according to various accounts, range from deceased animals to intimate objects and used condoms, though the actor refuted those worst excesses. And then, of course, we have Jim Carrey, who immersed himself so fully into Andy Kaufman during Man on the Moon that filmmakers succeeded in creating a full-length documentary out of B-roll of him causing difficulties as impossible as he could for everyone around him.

Contemporary Method Practitioners

The main practitioner of the Method currently seems 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 derisive New Yorker profile, full of quotes from people who were worried for his behaviour (“The toll on himself that worries me,” said Brian Cox) or annoyed beyond all measure by his actions (“I recall him causing others to react with exasperation,” said an unnamed co-star).

The actor claims he ‘never intended to retire, truly’

There are numerous additional cases. Andrew Garfield went celibate for six months for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio slept in an animal carcass for The Revenant. It’s quite possible that Austin Butler still speaks in the style of Elvis, three years after that film came out. All of this, to some extent, aims to evoke the seriousness with which Day-Lewis approaches his work.

A Noble But Uphill Battle

And, although his rebuttal against method detractors could be commendable, a short publicity tour may prove insufficient to change anyone’s mind, not to mention their practices. Maybe if he wants to remind people the true essence of the Method, or to demonstrate its potential results, then the optimal strategy for Day-Lewis is to simply start making additional movies. Surely we could all support that idea.