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It has been quite some time since the public saw or heard from the acclaimed actor Daniel Day-Lewis. After he statement in 2017 that he would cease to work as an actor, prior to the debut of The Phantom Thread, Day-Lewis withdrew from the spotlight. However, in his absence, his legend expanded further.

The Mythos of His Method

Largely, this reputation centers on his preferred style of working. As someone known for disappears into the roles he plays – for example, during Lincoln, reportedly asked the director call him “Mr President” throughout the shoot – the world has become increasingly obsessed with his process. Is it true he actually sent texts to Sally Field in character as Lincoln? Did he consumed solely game he hunted during Last of the Mohicans? And did he insist on being spoon-fed while filming My Left Foot?

Madness in their method: has the public lost interest with actorly excess?

Currently, Daniel Day-Lewis has returned in the limelight, somewhat reluctantly, promoting his latest movie Anemone. And he is using this to express his frustration at how method acting is perceived. “I am somewhat annoyed these days when I hear various individuals gobbling off and using phrases like ‘fully embraced the Method’, which seems suggests 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 those details typically include some sort of self-punishment or a situation that causes a severe discomfort or mental instability. However, in the career for a performer, it must principally be about the inner transformation.”

An Industry Full of Followers

To be honest, it appears as if Day-Lewis has come out from seclusion only to discover shocked by the acting community that has been created mirroring his methods. If you’re widely considered among the best actors to ever work, and your process includes striking a prop 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), it’s natural that fellow performers will attempt to fill that vacuum by trying to mimic your hero.

Essentially, we now live in an environment full of imperfect imitators of Day-Lewis who strive only to demonstrate the sheer amount of effort they put into their roles. On the milder side of this trend we have people like Lady Gaga, who was determined to earn an Academy Award with House of Gucci that she dedicated the whole campaign attempting to persuade people that she transformed into an Italian native over 18 months in preparation.

Then we have Jared Leto, who chose to deeply embed himself into the role as the Joker (for Suicide Squad) through sending “horrifying” presents to his castmates. These, depending on who you ask, range from deceased animals to anal beads and used condoms, though Leto denied the most extreme claims. Then, naturally, there is Jim Carrey, who went so deep into Andy Kaufman for Man on the Moon that filmmakers literally managed to get a feature-length documentary out of B-roll of him causing difficulties as impossible as he could for his colleagues.

Contemporary Followers of the Method

The foremost practitioner of the Method currently would appear to be Jeremy Strong (formerly Day-Lewis’s assistant), whose process during Succession was so laboriously intensive that it formed the subject of a critical New Yorker profile, including statements from individuals who were worried for his behaviour (“It’s the cost on himself concerns me,” remarked co-star Brian Cox) or annoyed beyond all measure by his actions (“I recall him causing everyone else roll their eyes,” said an unnamed co-star).

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

We have so many other examples. Andrew Garfield abstained from sex over half a year for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio slept in a dead animal for The Revenant. It’s quite possible that Austin Butler continues to talk like Elvis Presley, three years after that film came out. Each of these instances, to some extent, aims to evoke the seriousness in which Day-Lewis takes his craft.

A Noble Yet Challenging Fight

Moreover, although his rebuttal against method detractors could be commendable, a short publicity tour 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 show them what it can achieve, then Day-Lewis’s best bet is to just start making additional movies. Certainly we could all get behind that.