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It has been quite some time since the public saw or heard from Daniel Day-Lewis. Following his announcement in 2017 that he would no longer pursue acting, just before the release of Phantom Thread, Day-Lewis quietly faded from view. However, in his absence, his legend expanded further.

The Legend Surrounding His Acting Method

Primarily, this legend revolves around his preferred style of working. Being an actor known for immerses himself in the roles he plays – for instance, while filming Lincoln, reportedly asked the director call him “Mr President” for the entire production – the world has become increasingly obsessed with how he works. Did he actually sent texts to Sally Field as Abraham Lincoln? Was it accurate that he only eat game he hunted during Last of the Mohicans? And did he demand receiving food via spoon for My Left Foot?

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

Currently, Day-Lewis has returned to public attention, with some hesitation, promoting his latest movie Anemone. And he is using this to vocalise his anger regarding how method acting is viewed. “I’m a little cross nowadays to hear all kinds of people gobbling off and using phrases like ‘gone full method’, which I think is meant to imply that someone is behaving like a lunatic in a drastic way,” he told the New York Times. “People tends to focus on the less important details of the work, and these elements always seem to involve some sort of self-punishment or an experience that imposes upon oneself a severe discomfort or mental instability. However, in the career of an actor, it must principally be about the inner transformation.”

An Industry Full of Followers

To be honest, it appears like Day-Lewis has emerged from his retreat and found himself aghast at the acting community that has been created in his image. If you’re regarded as among the best performers to ever work, and your approach involves striking a prop to the point of injury (for Gangs of New York) or enduring two days in isolation without food or water (for In the Name of the Father), it’s natural that other actors will attempt to emulate that example by imitating their idol.

In other words, we exist in a landscape full of imperfect Day-Lewis impersonators who want nothing more than to show the world the extensive degree of dedication they invest in a character. On the milder side of the pool there are performers such as Lady Gaga, who was so desperate to win an Oscar for House of Gucci that she spent the whole campaign attempting to persuade people that she became functionally Italian for a year and a half as preparation.

Then we have Jared Leto, who decided to deeply embed himself into the role as the Joker (for Suicide Squad) by sending “horrifying” presents to fellow cast members. These items, according to various accounts, range from dead pigs and rats to intimate objects and personal hygiene products, though Leto denied those worst excesses. And then, of course, there is Jim Carrey, who went so deep into Andy Kaufman for Man on the Moon that they succeeded in creating a full-length documentary out of B-roll of him causing difficulties as impossible as he could for everyone around him.

The Modern Method Practitioners

The foremost Method Guy currently would appear to be Jeremy Strong (formerly an assistant to Day-Lewis), whose approach during Succession was so rigorously detailed that it became the subject of a derisive New Yorker profile, including statements from individuals who were either concerned for his behaviour (“The toll on himself that worries me,” said Brian Cox) or annoyed beyond all measure by his actions (“I recall him causing others to react with exasperation,” stated an anonymous cast member).

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

There are numerous additional cases. Andrew Garfield went celibate over half a year for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio slept in a dead animal during The Revenant. There’s a fighting chance that actor Austin Butler still speaks like Elvis Presley, years following that film came out. All of this, to some extent, aims to evoke the dedication in which Day-Lewis takes his work.

A Noble Yet Challenging Battle

And, although his rebuttal against method detractors might be noble, a brief promotional cycle may prove insufficient to change anyone’s mind, let alone their behaviour. Maybe if he wants to remind people what method acting is, or to show them what it can achieve, then the optimal strategy for Day-Lewis is to simply begin producing more films. Surely everyone would get behind that.