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It has been a long while since anyone saw or heard from the acclaimed actor Daniel Day-Lewis. After he announcement in 2017 declaring he would cease to pursue acting, just before the debut of Phantom Thread, the actor quietly faded from view. Yet, in his absence, his legend has only grown.

The Legend of His Method

Primarily, this reputation centers on his favored approach to roles. As someone known for immerses himself in his characters – for instance, while filming Lincoln, he had Steven Spielberg address him as “Mr President” for the entire production – the world has grown increasingly obsessed with how he works. Did he really send messages to co-star Sally Field as Abraham Lincoln? Was it accurate that he only eat game he hunted for The Last of the Mohicans? And did he demand receiving food via spoon while filming My Left Foot?

Madness in their method: have we lost interest with actorly excess?

Currently, Daniel Day-Lewis is back to public attention, somewhat reluctantly, promoting his latest movie Anemone. And he is taking this chance to express his frustration at how method acting is viewed. “I’m a little cross these days to hear all kinds of people talking carelessly and using phrases like ‘gone full method’, which seems suggests that a person’s behaving like a lunatic in an extreme fashion,” he told a major publication. “Everyone tends to focus on superficial aspects of acting, and these elements typically include some form of self-punishment or a situation that imposes upon oneself extreme unease or mental instability. However, in the life for a performer, it has to principally be about the inner transformation.”

A World Full of Followers

To be honest, it appears as if the actor has come out from his retreat only to discover aghast at the world that has developed in his image. When you are widely considered one of the greatest actors in history, and your process involves striking a prop to the point of injury (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 other actors will attempt to emulate that example by trying to mimic their idol.

Essentially, we exist in an environment populated by imperfect imitators of Day-Lewis who strive only to demonstrate the extensive degree of dedication they invest in their roles. On the milder side of this trend we have people like Lady Gaga, who was so desperate to win an Oscar for House of Gucci that she spent the entire promotion trying to convince everyone that she became functionally Italian for a year and a half as preparation.

Additionally, there is Jared Leto, who chose to immerse himself in the character of the Joker (in Suicide Squad) by sending “horrifying” presents to his castmates. These, depending on who you ask, range from dead pigs and rats to intimate objects and used condoms, although Leto denied the most extreme claims. Then, naturally, there is Jim Carrey, who went so deep into Andy Kaufman for Man on the Moon that filmmakers succeeded in creating a feature-length documentary from behind-the-scenes footage of him making life to the utmost for everyone around him.

The Modern Method Practitioners

The foremost practitioner of the Method currently seems to be Jeremy Strong (once an assistant to Day-Lewis), whose approach during Succession was so rigorously detailed that it formed the subject of a critical New Yorker profile, full of quotes from people who were worried about his conduct (“The toll to himself that worries me,” remarked Brian Cox) or extremely irritated by it (“I remember [him] making everyone else to react with exasperation,” stated an unnamed co-star).

Daniel Day-Lewis claims he ‘never intended to retire, truly’

There are numerous additional cases. Andrew Garfield went celibate over half a year while preparing for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio rested inside an animal carcass during The Revenant. It’s quite possible that actor Austin Butler continues to talk like Elvis Presley, three years after the movie’s release. Each of these instances, in part, is meant to invoke the dedication with which Day-Lewis takes his work.

A Noble But Uphill Fight

And, although his rebuttal against method detractors could be commendable, a brief promotional cycle may prove insufficient to change anyone’s mind, 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 Day-Lewis’s best bet is to simply start making more films. Surely everyone would get behind that.