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It has been quite some time since the public saw or heard from the acclaimed actor Daniel Day-Lewis. After he statement in 2017 declaring he would no longer pursue acting, prior to the debut of The Phantom Thread, the actor quietly faded from view. However, in his absence, his reputation has only grown.

The Legend Surrounding His Acting Method

Largely, this legend revolves around his favored approach to roles. Being an actor who famously disappears into his characters – for example, while filming Lincoln, reportedly asked Steven Spielberg call him “Mr President” throughout the shoot – the world has grown increasingly obsessed with how he works. Did he actually sent texts to Sally Field in character as Lincoln? Was it accurate that he consumed solely game he hunted for The Last of the Mohicans? Did he insist on being spoon-fed for My Left Foot?

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

Now, Day-Lewis has returned to public attention, somewhat reluctantly, for his new film Anemone. He is taking this chance to express his frustration at how method acting is viewed. “I am somewhat annoyed these days when I hear all kinds of people talking carelessly and saying things like ‘gone full method’, which seems is meant to imply that someone is behaving like a lunatic in a drastic way,” he told a major publication. “Everyone often concentrate on the less important details of the work, and these elements always seem to involve some form of self-flagellation or an experience that causes a severe discomfort or psychological strain. But of course, in the life of an actor, it must mainly focus on the internal work.”

A World of Imitators

Frankly, this sounds as if the actor has emerged from seclusion only to discover shocked by the acting community that has developed in his image. When you are widely considered one of the greatest performers to ever work, and your approach includes headbutting a dummy to the point of injury (for Gangs of New York) or spending two days in solitary confinement without food or water (for In the Name of the Father), then it stands to reason that fellow performers will attempt to fill that vacuum by trying to mimic your hero.

Essentially, we exist in a landscape populated by half-cocked Day-Lewis impersonators who strive only to show the world the sheer amount of dedication they invest in their roles. At the shallow end of this trend there are performers such as 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 transformed into functionally Italian over 18 months as preparation.

Then we have Jared Leto, who decided to immerse himself into the role of the Joker (for Suicide Squad) by sending “disturbing” gifts to fellow cast members. These items, according to various accounts, included dead pigs and rats to anal beads and personal hygiene products, though Leto denied those worst excesses. And then, naturally, there is Jim Carrey, who immersed himself so fully into Andy Kaufman during Man on the Moon that filmmakers literally managed to get a feature-length documentary out of B-roll of him causing difficulties as impossible as he could for his colleagues.

The Modern Followers of the Method

The main Method Guy at the moment would appear to be Jeremy Strong (once an assistant to Day-Lewis), whose process during Succession was so laboriously intensive that it became the subject of a derisive magazine feature, including statements from individuals who were either concerned for his behaviour (“The toll to himself concerns me,” said Brian Cox) or annoyed beyond all measure by his actions (“I recall him causing others roll their eyes,” stated an unnamed co-star).

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

We have so many other examples. Andrew Garfield abstained from sex for six months while preparing for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio slept in a dead animal during The Revenant. There’s a fighting chance that Austin Butler still speaks in the style of Elvis, years following the movie’s release. All of this, in part, is meant to invoke the dedication in which Day-Lewis approaches his craft.

A Noble But Uphill Battle

Moreover, while his fightback to critics of the Method might be noble, a short publicity tour may prove insufficient to alter perceptions, not to mention their behaviour. Maybe if he wants to remind people the true essence of the Method, or to demonstrate what it can achieve, then Day-Lewis’s best bet is to simply begin producing additional movies. Surely everyone would get behind that.