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It has been a long while since the public caught a glimpse of Daniel Day-Lewis. Following his statement in 2017 declaring he would cease to work as an actor, prior to the release of The Phantom Thread, Day-Lewis quietly faded from view. However, in his absence, his reputation expanded further.

The Legend of His Acting Method

Largely, this legend revolves around his preferred style of working. As someone known for disappears into his characters – for example, during Lincoln, he had Steven Spielberg address him as “Mr President” for the entire production – audiences has become increasingly obsessed with how he works. Is it true he really send texts to Sally Field as Abraham Lincoln? Was it accurate that he only eat game he hunted during The Last of the Mohicans? Did he insist on receiving food via spoon for My Left Foot?

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

Now, Day-Lewis has returned to public attention, somewhat reluctantly, promoting his latest movie Anemone. And he is using this to express his frustration at how the Method technique is perceived. “I’m a little cross nowadays when I hear various individuals gobbling off and saying things like ‘fully embraced the Method’, which seems is meant to imply that someone is acting insane in an extreme fashion,” he told the New York Times. “Everyone often concentrate on superficial details of the work, and these elements typically include some form of self-flagellation or a situation that causes extreme unease or psychological strain. But of course, in the career of an actor, it has to mainly focus on the inner transformation.”

A World of Imitators

Frankly, this sounds like Day-Lewis has come out from his retreat only to discover aghast at the acting community that has been created in his image. If you’re regarded as among the best performers in history, and your process includes striking a prop until you break your nose (in Gangs of New York) or spending two days in solitary confinement deprived of sustenance (during In the Name of the Father), it’s natural that fellow performers 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 want nothing more than to demonstrate the extensive degree of effort they invest in their roles. At the shallow end of this trend there are performers such as Lady Gaga, who was so desperate to earn an Academy Award for House of Gucci that she spent the entire promotion trying to convince everyone that she became functionally Italian for a year and a half as preparation.

Then we have Jared Leto, who chose to immerse himself into the role of the Joker (in Suicide Squad) through sending “disturbing” gifts to fellow cast members. These items, according to various accounts, included dead pigs and rats to intimate objects and used condoms, although Leto denied the most extreme claims. Then, naturally, we have Jim Carrey, who went so deep as Andy Kaufman during Man on the Moon that they succeeded to get a full-length documentary out of B-roll of him causing difficulties to the utmost for everyone around him.

The Modern Followers of the Method

The main practitioner of the Method at the moment seems to be Jeremy Strong (once an assistant to Day-Lewis), whose process while filming Succession was so laboriously intensive that it formed the subject of a derisive magazine feature, including statements from people who were worried for his behaviour (“It’s the cost to himself that worries me,” said Brian Cox) or annoyed beyond all measure by his actions (“I recall him causing others roll their eyes,” said an unnamed co-star).

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

We have so many other examples. Andrew Garfield went celibate for six months for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio rested inside a dead animal for The Revenant. There’s a fighting chance that actor Austin Butler still speaks in the style of Elvis, three years after the movie’s release. Each of these instances, in part, is meant to invoke the dedication in which Day-Lewis approaches his craft.

A Noble But Uphill Battle

And, although his rebuttal against method detractors could be commendable, a short publicity tour might not be enough to change anyone’s mind, not to mention their behaviour. Perhaps if he wishes to remind people the true essence of the Method, or to demonstrate its potential results, then the optimal strategy for Day-Lewis is to simply start making additional movies. Certainly everyone would support that idea.