The Renowned Actor Voices Annoyance Over The Method Approach Being Equated to ‘Acting Insanely’ – And That’s Precisely the Reason It Captivates Us

It’s been a long while since anyone caught a glimpse of the acclaimed actor Daniel Day-Lewis. Following his announcement in 2017 declaring he would no longer work as an actor, just before the debut of The Phantom Thread, the actor quietly faded from view. Yet, in his absence, his legend has only grown.

The Legend of His Method

Primarily, this legend centers on his favored approach to roles. As someone who famously immerses himself in his characters – for instance, during Lincoln, reportedly asked the director call him “Mr President” for the entire production – audiences has become increasingly obsessed with how he works. Did he actually sent messages to co-star Sally Field as Abraham Lincoln? Was it accurate that he consumed solely game he hunted for The Last of the Mohicans? And did he demand receiving food via spoon for My Left Foot?

Madness in their method: has the public lost interest with over-the-top performances?

Currently, Daniel Day-Lewis is back to public attention, somewhat reluctantly, for his new film Anemone. He is taking this chance to express his anger at how method acting is viewed. “I’m a little cross nowadays when I hear various individuals talking carelessly and saying things like ‘gone full method’, which seems is meant to imply that someone is acting insane in an extreme fashion,” he told a major publication. “People often concentrate on the less important aspects of acting, and those details typically include some form of self-flagellation or a situation that imposes upon oneself extreme unease or psychological strain. However, in the career of an actor, it must mainly focus on the inner transformation.”

An Industry of Imitators

To be honest, it appears like Day-Lewis has emerged from his retreat and found himself shocked by the acting community that has been created in his image. When you are widely considered one of the greatest performers to ever work, and your process involves striking a prop until you break your nose (in Gangs of New York) or enduring two days in solitary confinement without food or water (for 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 a landscape populated by imperfect imitators of Day-Lewis who strive only to demonstrate the sheer amount of dedication they invest in a character. At the shallow end of this trend we have people like Lady Gaga, who was so desperate to win an Oscar for House of Gucci that she spent the entire promotion trying to convince everyone that she became functionally Italian for a year and a half as preparation.

Additionally, there is Jared Leto, who chose to immerse himself in the character of the Joker (for Suicide Squad) through sending “horrifying” presents to his castmates. These, according to various accounts, included deceased animals to anal beads and used condoms, though the actor refuted the most extreme claims. Then, of course, there is Jim Carrey, who immersed himself so fully as Andy Kaufman during Man on the Moon that they succeeded to get 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 (formerly an assistant to Day-Lewis), whose process during Succession was so rigorously detailed that it formed the basis of a derisive magazine feature, full of quotes from individuals who were either concerned about his conduct (“It’s the cost to himself that worries me,” said co-star Brian Cox) or extremely irritated by his actions (“I recall [him] making everyone else roll their eyes,” said an unnamed co-star).

Daniel Day-Lewis says he ‘never intended to stop acting, really’

There are so many other examples. Andrew Garfield abstained from sex for six months for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio slept in a dead animal during The Revenant. There’s a fighting chance that Austin Butler still speaks like Elvis Presley, three years after the movie’s release. Each of these instances, in part, aims to evoke the seriousness with which Day-Lewis approaches his work.

An Admirable Yet Challenging Fight

And, while his fightback to critics of the Method could be commendable, a brief promotional cycle may prove insufficient to alter perceptions, not to mention their practices. Maybe if he wants to remind people what method acting is, or to demonstrate its potential results, then the optimal strategy for Day-Lewis is to just begin producing additional movies. Surely everyone would get behind that.