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It’s been a long while since the public saw or heard from Daniel Day-Lewis. After he announcement in 2017 declaring he would cease to work as an actor, just before the debut of The Phantom Thread, Day-Lewis withdrew from the spotlight. Yet, in his absence, his legend has only grown.

The Legend Surrounding His Method

Largely, this reputation revolves around his preferred approach to roles. As someone known for disappears into the roles he plays – for instance, during the Lincoln biopic, he had the director call him “Mr President” for the entire production – the world has become increasingly obsessed with how he works. Did he really send messages to co-star Sally Field as Abraham Lincoln? Was it accurate that he consumed solely animals he’d killed for The Last of the Mohicans? And did he demand 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 to public attention, with some hesitation, promoting his latest movie Anemone. He is using this to express his anger at how method acting is perceived. “I am somewhat annoyed these days when I hear all kinds of people gobbling off and saying things like ‘gone full method’, which I think is meant to imply that someone is acting insane in a drastic way,” he stated to a major publication. “Everyone tends to focus on the less important aspects of acting, and these elements always seem to involve some sort of self-punishment or a situation that imposes upon oneself a severe discomfort or psychological strain. But of course, in the career of an actor, it has to principally be about the inner transformation.”

A World Full of Followers

To be honest, this sounds as if Day-Lewis has emerged from seclusion and found himself shocked by the acting community that has been created in his image. If you’re regarded as one of the greatest actors to ever work, and your process includes headbutting a dummy until you break your nose (in Gangs of New York) or enduring 48 hours in solitary confinement deprived of sustenance (during In the Name of the Father), then it stands to reason that fellow performers will want to emulate that example by trying to mimic their idol.

In other words, we now live in an environment populated by imperfect imitators of Day-Lewis who want nothing more than to demonstrate 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 so desperate to earn an Academy Award with House of Gucci that she dedicated the whole campaign trying to convince everyone that she transformed into an Italian native for a year and a half in preparation.

Additionally, there is Jared Leto, who chose to deeply embed himself into the role as the Joker (in Suicide Squad) by sending “disturbing” presents to his castmates. These, depending on who you ask, included deceased animals to intimate objects and personal hygiene products, though the actor refuted the most extreme claims. Then, naturally, we have Jim Carrey, who went so deep into Andy Kaufman for Man on the Moon that they literally managed to get a feature-length documentary from behind-the-scenes footage of him making life as impossible as he could for everyone around him.

Contemporary Method Practitioners

The main practitioner of the Method at the moment would appear to be Jeremy Strong (once Day-Lewis’s assistant), whose process during Succession was so laboriously intensive that it became the basis of a derisive magazine feature, full of quotes from individuals who were either concerned for his behaviour (“It’s the cost to himself concerns me,” remarked Brian Cox) or annoyed beyond all measure by his actions (“I remember [him] making everyone else to react with exasperation,” stated an anonymous cast member).

The actor claims he ‘never intended to stop acting, really’

We have so many other examples. Andrew Garfield went celibate for six months while preparing for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio rested inside an animal carcass for The Revenant. It’s quite possible that actor Austin Butler continues to talk in the style of Elvis, years following that film came out. All of this, to some extent, aims to evoke the seriousness in which Day-Lewis takes 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, let alone their practices. Perhaps if he wants to make audiences recall the true essence of the Method, or to show them its potential results, then Day-Lewis’s best bet is to simply begin producing additional movies. Surely everyone would support that idea.