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It’s been a long while since the public caught a glimpse of the acclaimed actor Daniel Day-Lewis. Following his statement in 2017 that he would no longer work as an actor, just before the release of The Phantom Thread, the actor withdrew from the spotlight. However, during his hiatus, his reputation expanded further.

The Legend of His Acting Method

Largely, this reputation centers on his favored style of working. Being an actor known for immerses himself in the roles he plays – for example, while filming the Lincoln biopic, reportedly asked the director call him “Mr President” throughout the shoot – the world has grown increasingly obsessed with how he works. Did he really send messages to co-star Sally Field in character as Lincoln? Was it accurate that he consumed solely game he hunted during The Last of the Mohicans? Did he insist on being spoon-fed while filming My Left Foot?

Madness in their method: have we lost interest with over-the-top performances?

Now, Daniel Day-Lewis is back in the limelight, with some hesitation, for his new film Anemone. He is using this to vocalise his anger at how method acting is perceived. “I am somewhat annoyed nowadays to hear all kinds of people gobbling off and using phrases like ‘gone full method’, which seems suggests that someone is acting insane in an extreme fashion,” he told a major publication. “People tends to focus on superficial details of the work, and these elements always seem to involve some sort of self-punishment or a situation that imposes upon oneself extreme unease or mental instability. But of course, in the career of an actor, it must principally be about the inner transformation.”

A World of Imitators

To be honest, it appears as if the actor has come out from seclusion only to discover shocked by the acting community that has developed mirroring his methods. When you are regarded as one of the greatest performers to ever work, and your approach involves headbutting a dummy until you break your nose (for Gangs of New York) or enduring two days in solitary confinement without food or water (for In the Name of the Father), then it stands to reason that fellow performers will want to fill that vacuum by imitating your hero.

In other words, we exist in an environment full of imperfect Day-Lewis impersonators who want nothing more than to show the world the sheer amount of dedication they put into their roles. At the shallow end of the pool there are performers such as Lady Gaga, who was so desperate to win an Oscar for House of Gucci that she dedicated the whole campaign trying to convince everyone that she became an Italian native for a year and a half as preparation.

Additionally, there is Jared Leto, who chose to deeply embed himself into the role of the Joker (in Suicide Squad) through sending “horrifying” gifts to his castmates. These items, according to various accounts, range from dead pigs and rats to intimate objects and used condoms, although Leto denied the most extreme claims. Then, of course, we have Jim Carrey, who went so deep as Andy Kaufman during Man on the Moon that they literally managed to get a full-length documentary from behind-the-scenes footage of him causing difficulties to the utmost for everyone around him.

The Modern Method Practitioners

The main Method Guy at the moment would appear to be Jeremy Strong (formerly 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 individuals who were worried about his conduct (“The toll to himself concerns me,” said Brian Cox) or extremely irritated by it (“I recall [him] making others to react with exasperation,” stated an anonymous cast member).

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

There are so many other examples. Andrew Garfield abstained from sex over half a year for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio slept in an animal carcass during The Revenant. It’s quite possible that Austin Butler still speaks like Elvis Presley, years following the movie’s release. Each of these instances, to some extent, is meant to invoke the seriousness in which Day-Lewis takes his work.

An Admirable Yet Challenging Fight

Moreover, while his fightback against method detractors might be noble, a short publicity tour may prove insufficient to change anyone’s mind, not to mention their behaviour. Maybe if he wants to remind people what method acting is, or to show them its potential results, then the optimal strategy for Day-Lewis is to just start making more films. Certainly everyone would support that idea.