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It has been quite some time since anyone caught a glimpse of the acclaimed actor Daniel Day-Lewis. After he announcement in 2017 that he would no longer pursue acting, prior to the debut of The Phantom Thread, the actor withdrew from the spotlight. Yet, during his hiatus, his reputation has only grown.

The Mythos Surrounding His Method

Largely, this legend centers on his preferred approach to roles. Being an actor known for disappears into his characters – for instance, while filming Lincoln, reportedly asked the director call him “Mr. President” for the entire production – audiences has grown more fascinated with how he works. Is it true he actually sent messages to co-star Sally Field as Abraham Lincoln? Did he only eat animals he’d killed during Last of the Mohicans? Did he insist on receiving food via spoon for My Left Foot?

Madness in their method: have we fallen out of love with over-the-top performances?

Now, Daniel Day-Lewis has returned to public attention, somewhat reluctantly, promoting his latest movie Anemone. And he is using this to express his anger at how method acting is perceived. “I’m a little cross nowadays when I hear various individuals talking carelessly and using phrases like ‘gone full method’, which seems is meant to imply that someone is behaving like a lunatic in an extreme fashion,” he stated to a major publication. “People tends to focus on the less important aspects of acting, and these elements typically include some form of self-punishment or a situation that causes a severe discomfort or psychological strain. However, in the career of an actor, it must mainly focus on the inner transformation.”

An Industry Full of Followers

Frankly, it appears as if Day-Lewis has come out from seclusion and found himself aghast at the acting community that has been created in his image. If you’re regarded as one of the greatest performers in history, and your process involves headbutting a dummy to the point of injury (for Gangs of New York) or spending 48 hours in isolation without food or water (for In the Name of the Father), then it stands to reason that fellow performers will attempt to emulate that example by trying to mimic your hero.

Essentially, we now live in a landscape full of half-cocked Day-Lewis impersonators who want nothing more than to demonstrate the sheer amount of effort they invest in a character. At the shallow end of the pool we have people like Lady Gaga, who was so desperate to earn an Academy Award with House of Gucci that she dedicated the entire promotion attempting to persuade people that she transformed into functionally Italian over 18 months in preparation.

Then we have Jared Leto, who chose to deeply embed himself in the character of the Joker (in Suicide Squad) by sending “disturbing” presents to his castmates. These, according to various accounts, included dead pigs and rats to anal beads and used condoms, though the actor refuted those worst excesses. Then, naturally, we have Jim Carrey, who went so deep into Andy Kaufman for Man on the Moon that filmmakers succeeded in creating a feature-length documentary from behind-the-scenes footage of him causing difficulties to the utmost for his colleagues.

The Modern Method Practitioners

The foremost Method Guy at the moment seems to be Jeremy Strong (formerly an assistant to Day-Lewis), whose process while filming Succession was so rigorously detailed that it became the basis of a derisive New Yorker profile, full of quotes from individuals who were either concerned about his conduct (“The toll on himself concerns me,” remarked co-star Brian Cox) or extremely irritated by his actions (“I recall him causing everyone else roll their eyes,” said an anonymous cast member).

The actor claims he ‘did not plan to retire, truly’

There are numerous additional cases. Andrew Garfield abstained from sex over half a year while preparing for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio rested inside an animal carcass 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 seriousness in which Day-Lewis takes his work.

An Admirable Yet Challenging Battle

Moreover, while his fightback against method detractors could be commendable, a brief promotional cycle may prove insufficient to change anyone’s mind, let alone their behaviour. Perhaps if he wants to make audiences recall the true essence of the Method, or to demonstrate what it can achieve, then the optimal strategy for Day-Lewis is to just begin producing additional movies. Surely we could all support that idea.