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It has been quite some time since anyone saw or heard from the acclaimed actor Daniel Day-Lewis. Following his statement in 2017 that he would cease to work as an actor, prior to the release of Phantom Thread, the actor quietly faded from view. Yet, during his hiatus, his legend has only grown.

The Mythos Surrounding His Acting Method

Largely, this legend centers on his preferred style of working. As someone known for disappears into the roles he plays – for instance, while filming the Lincoln biopic, he had the director call him “Mr. President” for the entire production – audiences has grown increasingly obsessed with his process. Did he actually sent texts to Sally Field as Abraham 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?

Madness in their method: has the public fallen out of love with actorly excess?

Currently, Daniel Day-Lewis has returned in the limelight, somewhat reluctantly, for his new film Anemone. He is using this to express his frustration regarding how the Method technique is viewed. “I am somewhat annoyed nowadays to hear all kinds of people talking carelessly and using phrases like ‘gone full method’, which I think is meant to imply that someone is behaving like a lunatic in a drastic way,” he stated to the New York Times. “People often concentrate on the less important aspects of acting, and those details typically include some sort of self-punishment or a situation that causes a severe discomfort or psychological strain. But of course, in the life for a performer, it must principally be about the internal work.”

An Industry of Imitators

To be honest, this sounds as if Day-Lewis has come out from his retreat and found himself shocked by the acting community that has developed in his image. If you’re widely considered one of the greatest performers to ever work, and your process includes headbutting a dummy until you break your nose (in Gangs of New York) or spending two days in isolation without food or water (for In the Name of the Father), it’s natural that other actors will attempt to emulate that example by imitating your hero.

In other words, we exist in a landscape full of half-cocked imitators of Day-Lewis who strive only to show the world the extensive degree of effort they invest in a character. On the milder side of this trend there are performers such as Lady Gaga, who was determined to earn an Academy Award with 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 in the character as the Joker (for Suicide Squad) through sending “horrifying” presents to his castmates. These, according to various accounts, included dead pigs and rats to anal beads and used condoms, although Leto denied the most extreme claims. Then, of course, we have Jim Carrey, who immersed himself so fully into Andy Kaufman during Man on the Moon that filmmakers literally managed in creating a full-length documentary out of B-roll of him causing difficulties to the utmost for his colleagues.

Contemporary Method Practitioners

The main Method Guy at the moment would appear to be Jeremy Strong (formerly an assistant to Day-Lewis), whose approach during Succession was so laboriously intensive that it became the subject of a derisive New Yorker profile, full of quotes from people who were either concerned about his conduct (“The toll to himself concerns me,” remarked co-star Brian Cox) or extremely irritated by his actions (“I recall [him] making others roll their eyes,” said an unnamed co-star).

The actor says he ‘did not plan to stop acting, truly’

We have so many other examples. Andrew Garfield went celibate for six months while preparing for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio rested inside a dead animal for The Revenant. There’s a fighting chance that Austin Butler continues to talk in the style of Elvis, three years after the movie’s release. All of this, in part, aims to evoke the dedication in which Day-Lewis takes his craft.

A Noble Yet Challenging Battle

Moreover, while his fightback to critics of the Method could be commendable, a brief promotional cycle may prove insufficient to alter perceptions, let alone their practices. Perhaps if he wishes to make audiences recall what method acting is, or to demonstrate what it can achieve, then the optimal strategy for Day-Lewis is to simply start making additional movies. Certainly we could all get behind that.