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It has been quite some time since anyone caught a glimpse of the acclaimed actor Daniel Day-Lewis. Following his announcement in 2017 declaring he would no longer work as an actor, just before the debut of The Phantom Thread, the actor withdrew from the spotlight. However, during his hiatus, his legend expanded further.

The Mythos of His Acting Method

Primarily, this legend revolves around his favored approach to roles. Being an actor known for disappears into the roles he plays – for example, while filming Lincoln, reportedly asked the director address him as “Mr. President” throughout the shoot – the world has become 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? Did he insist on receiving food via spoon for My Left Foot?

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

Now, Day-Lewis is back in the limelight, with some hesitation, promoting his latest movie Anemone. He is taking this chance to express his anger regarding how the Method technique is perceived. “I am somewhat annoyed these days when I hear various individuals gobbling off and using phrases like ‘gone full method’, which I think is meant to imply that a person’s acting insane in a drastic way,” he stated to the New York Times. “Everyone tends to focus on the less important aspects of acting, and those details typically include some form of self-punishment or a situation that causes extreme unease or mental instability. But of course, in the career for a performer, it must mainly focus on the inner transformation.”

An Industry of Imitators

To be honest, it appears like Day-Lewis has come out from seclusion and found himself shocked by the world that has developed in his image. When you are widely considered among the best actors to ever work, and your process involves headbutting a dummy until you break your nose (in Gangs of New York) or enduring two days in solitary confinement without food or water (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 your hero.

Essentially, we now live in an environment full of half-cocked imitators of Day-Lewis who strive only to demonstrate the sheer amount of effort they invest in a character. On the milder side of this trend there are performers such as Lady Gaga, who was determined to win an Oscar for House of Gucci that she dedicated the entire promotion attempting to persuade people that she transformed into an Italian native for a year and a half as preparation.

Then we have Jared Leto, who chose to immerse himself into the role as the Joker (in Suicide Squad) by sending “disturbing” gifts to his castmates. These, according to various accounts, included dead pigs and rats to anal beads and personal hygiene products, although Leto denied those worst excesses. And then, naturally, we have Jim Carrey, who immersed himself so fully as Andy Kaufman during Man on the Moon that they succeeded to get a full-length documentary out of B-roll of him making life to the utmost for everyone around him.

Contemporary Method Practitioners

The main Method Guy currently seems to be Jeremy Strong (once an assistant to Day-Lewis), whose approach while filming Succession was so laboriously intensive that it formed the basis of a critical magazine feature, full of quotes from individuals who were worried about his conduct (“It’s the cost to himself concerns me,” remarked Brian Cox) or extremely irritated by it (“I recall him causing others to react with exasperation,” stated an unnamed co-star).

The actor says he ‘never intended to retire, really’

There are numerous additional cases. Andrew Garfield went celibate over half a year for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio slept in an animal carcass for The Revenant. There’s a fighting chance that actor Austin Butler continues to talk like Elvis Presley, years following the movie’s release. Each of these instances, to some extent, is meant to invoke the seriousness with which Day-Lewis approaches his work.

An Admirable Yet Challenging Fight

Moreover, although his rebuttal against method detractors might be noble, a short publicity tour might not be enough to alter perceptions, not to mention their behaviour. Maybe if he wishes to make audiences recall what method acting is, or to show them its potential results, then the optimal strategy for Day-Lewis is to simply start making more films. Certainly we could all get behind that.