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It has been quite some time since the public caught a glimpse of Daniel Day-Lewis. Following his statement in 2017 declaring he would cease to pursue acting, prior to the debut of The Phantom Thread, Day-Lewis quietly faded from view. Yet, in his absence, his legend expanded further.

The Mythos of His Acting Method

Primarily, this reputation revolves around his preferred approach to roles. Being an actor known for disappears into his characters – for instance, while filming the Lincoln biopic, reportedly asked the director address him as “Mr. President” throughout the shoot – audiences has grown increasingly obsessed with how he works. Is it true he actually sent texts to Sally Field as Abraham Lincoln? Was it accurate that he only eat game he hunted during The Last of the Mohicans? And did he demand being spoon-fed while filming My Left Foot?

Madness in their method: has the public fallen out of love with over-the-top performances?

Currently, Day-Lewis has returned in the limelight, somewhat reluctantly, promoting his latest movie Anemone. And he is using this to vocalise his frustration at how method acting is viewed. “I’m a little cross these days when I hear all kinds of people talking carelessly and using phrases like ‘gone full method’, which I think is meant to imply that someone is behaving like a lunatic in an extreme fashion,” he told a major publication. “Everyone often concentrate on superficial aspects of acting, and these elements typically include some sort of self-flagellation or an experience that imposes upon oneself extreme unease or psychological strain. However, in the career for a performer, it must principally be about the inner transformation.”

An Industry Full of Followers

Frankly, it appears as if the actor has emerged from seclusion only to discover aghast at the world that has developed mirroring his methods. When you are regarded as one of the greatest performers to ever work, and your process includes striking a prop until you break your nose (for Gangs of New York) or enduring two days in solitary confinement deprived of sustenance (for In the Name of the Father), then it stands to reason that fellow performers will attempt to fill that vacuum by imitating your hero.

In other words, we exist in a landscape populated by imperfect Day-Lewis impersonators who strive only to demonstrate the extensive degree of dedication they invest in their roles. On the milder side of the pool there are performers such as Lady Gaga, who was determined to earn an Academy Award for House of Gucci that she spent the entire promotion trying to convince everyone that she became an Italian native for a year and a half as preparation.

Then we have Jared Leto, who decided to deeply embed himself in the character of the Joker (in Suicide Squad) by sending “disturbing” presents to his castmates. These items, depending on who you ask, included dead pigs and rats to intimate objects and used condoms, though Leto denied those worst excesses. And then, of course, there is Jim Carrey, who went so deep as Andy Kaufman for Man on the Moon that filmmakers succeeded in creating a feature-length documentary from behind-the-scenes footage of him causing difficulties as impossible as he could for his colleagues.

Contemporary Followers of the Method

The foremost Method Guy currently seems 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 critical New Yorker profile, full of quotes from individuals who were worried for his behaviour (“It’s the cost on himself that worries me,” said Brian Cox) or annoyed beyond all measure by it (“I remember him causing everyone else roll their eyes,” said an unnamed co-star).

The actor says he ‘never intended to stop acting, truly’

There are numerous additional cases. Andrew Garfield went celibate for six months for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio slept in an animal carcass during The Revenant. There’s a fighting chance that actor Austin Butler still speaks like Elvis Presley, three years after the movie’s release. All of this, in part, is meant to invoke the dedication with which Day-Lewis approaches his craft.

A Noble But Uphill Fight

And, although his rebuttal against method detractors could be commendable, a brief promotional cycle might not be enough to change anyone’s mind, not to mention their practices. Maybe if he wants to remind people what method acting is, or to demonstrate its potential results, then the optimal strategy for Day-Lewis is to simply start making additional movies. Surely we could all support that idea.