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It has been quite some time since the public caught a glimpse of the acclaimed actor Daniel Day-Lewis. After he announcement in 2017 that he would cease to work as an actor, just before the debut of Phantom Thread, Day-Lewis quietly faded from view. However, in his absence, his legend has only grown.

The Legend of His Acting Method

Primarily, this reputation revolves around his preferred style of working. Being an actor who famously immerses himself in his characters – for example, during Lincoln, reportedly asked the director call him “Mr. President” for the entire production – the world has grown increasingly obsessed with his process. Is it true he really send texts to Sally Field as Abraham Lincoln? Did he consumed solely animals he’d killed during Last of the Mohicans? And did he demand being spoon-fed while filming My Left Foot?

Extreme acting methods: have we fallen out of love with actorly excess?

Currently, Daniel Day-Lewis is back in the limelight, somewhat reluctantly, promoting his latest movie Anemone. And he is taking this chance to vocalise his frustration at how the Method technique is viewed. “I’m a little cross nowadays to hear all kinds of people talking carelessly and using phrases like ‘fully embraced the Method’, which I think suggests that a person’s acting insane in an extreme fashion,” he stated to a major publication. “Everyone tends to focus on superficial aspects of acting, and those details always seem to involve some form of self-flagellation or a situation that imposes upon oneself extreme unease or psychological strain. But of course, in the career for a performer, it must mainly focus on the inner transformation.”

An Industry Full of Followers

To be honest, it appears like Day-Lewis has emerged from seclusion and found himself aghast at the acting community that has developed in his image. When you are widely considered among the best performers to ever work, and your approach includes headbutting a dummy until you break your nose (in Gangs of New York) or enduring 48 hours in isolation deprived of sustenance (during In the Name of the Father), then it stands to reason that fellow performers will attempt to emulate that example by imitating their idol.

In other words, we now live in an environment populated by imperfect Day-Lewis impersonators who strive only to show the world the extensive degree of effort they invest in their roles. On the milder side of this trend we have people like Lady Gaga, who was determined to earn an Academy Award for House of Gucci that she dedicated the whole campaign trying to convince everyone 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 (for Suicide Squad) by sending “disturbing” gifts to his castmates. These items, depending on who you ask, included dead pigs and rats to anal beads and used condoms, although the actor refuted those worst excesses. Then, naturally, we have Jim Carrey, who went so deep into Andy Kaufman during Man on the Moon that filmmakers literally managed to get a full-length documentary out of B-roll of him causing difficulties as impossible as he could for everyone around him.

The Modern Method Practitioners

The foremost Method Guy currently seems to be Jeremy Strong (once Day-Lewis’s assistant), whose approach while filming Succession was so rigorously detailed that it became the basis of a critical New Yorker profile, full of quotes from individuals who were worried about his conduct (“It’s the cost to himself concerns me,” said Brian Cox) or extremely irritated by it (“I remember [him] making others roll their eyes,” stated an anonymous cast member).

Daniel Day-Lewis says he ‘did not plan to stop acting, truly’

We have so many other examples. Andrew Garfield went celibate over half a year for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio slept in an animal carcass for The Revenant. It’s quite possible that Austin Butler still speaks in the style of Elvis, years following that film came out. Each of these instances, to some extent, aims to evoke the seriousness with which Day-Lewis approaches his craft.

A Noble But Uphill Fight

Moreover, although his rebuttal to critics of the Method might be noble, a brief promotional cycle may prove insufficient to change anyone’s mind, let alone their practices. Perhaps if he wants to remind people the true essence of the Method, or to show them its potential results, then Day-Lewis’s best bet is to just start making more films. Certainly we could all support that idea.