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It’s been a long while since anyone caught a glimpse of the acclaimed actor Daniel Day-Lewis. After he statement in 2017 declaring he would cease to pursue acting, prior to the release of The Phantom Thread, the actor quietly faded from view. Yet, in his absence, his legend has only grown.

The Mythos of His Acting Method

Largely, this reputation revolves around his preferred approach to roles. As someone known for disappears into his characters – for instance, while filming Lincoln, reportedly asked Steven Spielberg call him “Mr President” for the entire production – audiences has become more fascinated with how he works. Did he really send texts to Sally Field in character as Lincoln? Did he only eat game he hunted during The 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?

Now, Day-Lewis is back in the limelight, with some hesitation, for his new film Anemone. He is taking this chance to vocalise his frustration regarding how the Method technique is perceived. “I’m a little cross nowadays when I hear all kinds of people talking carelessly and using phrases like ‘fully embraced the Method’, which I think is meant to imply that someone is behaving like a lunatic in an extreme fashion,” he stated to a major publication. “People often concentrate on the less important aspects of acting, and these elements typically include some sort of self-flagellation or a situation that imposes upon oneself extreme unease or mental instability. However, in the career of an actor, it has to principally be about the inner transformation.”

An Industry Full of Followers

To be honest, it appears like the actor has come out from seclusion and found himself shocked by the world that has developed in his image. If you’re regarded as among the best actors in history, and your process includes headbutting a dummy until you break your nose (for Gangs of New York) or spending 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 attempt to emulate that example by imitating their idol.

In other words, we now live in an environment full of half-cocked Day-Lewis impersonators who strive only to demonstrate the sheer amount of effort they invest in their roles. At the shallow end 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 whole campaign attempting to persuade people that she transformed into an Italian native for a year and a half as preparation.

Additionally, there is Jared Leto, who chose to immerse himself in the character of the Joker (for Suicide Squad) through sending “disturbing” presents to his castmates. These, according to various accounts, included deceased animals to anal beads and used condoms, although Leto denied those worst excesses. And then, naturally, we have Jim Carrey, who immersed himself so fully as Andy Kaufman for Man on the Moon that they literally managed to get a full-length documentary from behind-the-scenes footage of him making life to the utmost for his colleagues.

Contemporary Followers of the Method

The main practitioner of the Method at the moment would appear to be Jeremy Strong (formerly Day-Lewis’s assistant), whose approach while filming Succession was so rigorously detailed that it formed the basis of a critical New Yorker profile, full of quotes from people who were worried for his behaviour (“The toll on himself that worries me,” said co-star Brian Cox) or extremely irritated by it (“I recall [him] making everyone else roll their eyes,” stated an unnamed co-star).

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

There are numerous additional cases. Andrew Garfield abstained from sex for six months for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio rested inside a dead animal for The Revenant. It’s quite possible that Austin Butler still speaks in the style of Elvis, three years after the movie’s release. Each of these instances, to some extent, is meant to invoke the dedication in which Day-Lewis approaches his work.

A Noble Yet Challenging Fight

And, while his fightback to critics of the Method could be commendable, a brief promotional cycle might not be enough to change anyone’s mind, not to mention their practices. Maybe if he wishes to remind people what method acting is, or to demonstrate its potential results, then Day-Lewis’s best bet is to just begin producing additional movies. Surely everyone would get behind that.