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It’s been quite some time since the public saw or heard from the acclaimed actor Daniel Day-Lewis. After he statement in 2017 that he would no longer work as an actor, just before the release of The Phantom Thread, the actor quietly faded from view. Yet, in his absence, his reputation expanded further.

The Mythos of His Acting Method

Largely, this reputation centers on his preferred style of working. As someone who famously immerses himself in his characters – for example, while filming the Lincoln biopic, he had Steven Spielberg call him “Mr. President” for the entire production – audiences has grown increasingly obsessed with his process. Did he actually sent messages to co-star Sally Field as Abraham Lincoln? Did he only eat animals he’d killed for Last of the Mohicans? And did he demand being spoon-fed for My Left Foot?

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

Currently, Day-Lewis has returned in the limelight, somewhat reluctantly, for his new film Anemone. And he is taking this chance to vocalise his frustration at how method acting is perceived. “I’m a little cross these days when I hear various individuals talking carelessly and using phrases like ‘gone full method’, which I think is meant to imply that someone is behaving like a lunatic in an extreme fashion,” he stated to a major publication. “Everyone often concentrate on superficial aspects of acting, and those details always seem to involve some sort of self-flagellation or a situation that causes extreme unease or psychological strain. However, in the life of an actor, it has to principally be about the internal work.”

A World Full of Followers

To be honest, it appears as if the actor has come out from his retreat and found himself shocked by the acting community that has developed mirroring his methods. When you are widely considered one of the greatest actors in history, and your process involves headbutting a dummy until you break your nose (in Gangs of New York) or spending two days in isolation without food or water (during In the Name of the Father), it’s natural that other actors will want to fill that vacuum by imitating your hero.

Essentially, we now live in an environment full of imperfect imitators of Day-Lewis who strive only to show the world the extensive degree of effort they put into their roles. On the milder side of this trend we have people like 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 functionally Italian for a year and a half in preparation.

Then we have Jared Leto, who decided to deeply embed himself into the role as the Joker (in Suicide Squad) through sending “disturbing” gifts to fellow cast members. These, depending on who you ask, range from dead pigs and rats to anal beads and used condoms, although Leto denied those worst excesses. Then, of course, there is Jim Carrey, who went so deep into Andy Kaufman during Man on the Moon that filmmakers 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.

Contemporary Method Practitioners

The foremost Method Guy currently would appear to be Jeremy Strong (formerly Day-Lewis’s assistant), whose approach during Succession was so laboriously intensive that it formed the subject of a critical magazine feature, full of quotes from people who were either concerned for his behaviour (“It’s the cost on himself that worries me,” said Brian Cox) or extremely irritated by it (“I remember him causing others to react with exasperation,” said an unnamed co-star).

Daniel Day-Lewis says he ‘never intended to retire, truly’

We have numerous additional cases. Andrew Garfield abstained from sex for six months for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio rested inside a dead animal for The Revenant. There’s a fighting chance that Austin Butler still speaks like Elvis Presley, three years after that film came out. All of this, in part, is meant to invoke the seriousness with which Day-Lewis approaches his craft.

A Noble But Uphill Battle

Moreover, although his rebuttal to critics of the Method could be commendable, a short publicity tour might not be enough to alter perceptions, not to mention their behaviour. Maybe if he wants to make audiences recall the true essence of the Method, or to show them its potential results, then the optimal strategy for Day-Lewis is to simply start making additional movies. Surely we could all support that idea.