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It’s been a long while since anyone saw or heard from the acclaimed actor Daniel Day-Lewis. After he announcement in 2017 that he would cease to work as an actor, prior to the debut of Phantom Thread, the actor quietly faded from view. However, in his absence, his reputation expanded further.

The Mythos Surrounding His Acting Method

Primarily, this reputation centers on his preferred approach to roles. As someone known for immerses himself in his characters – for example, during the Lincoln biopic, he had the director call him “Mr President” for the entire production – the world has become more fascinated with his process. Did he really send texts to Sally Field as Abraham Lincoln? Did he consumed solely game he hunted during The Last of the Mohicans? And did he demand being spoon-fed while filming My Left Foot?

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Now, Daniel Day-Lewis is back to public attention, somewhat reluctantly, for his new film Anemone. And he is using this to express his anger regarding how the Method technique is perceived. “I am somewhat annoyed nowadays to hear various individuals gobbling off and saying things like ‘gone full method’, which I think is meant to imply that a person’s acting insane in a drastic way,” he stated to a major publication. “People often concentrate on the less important details of the work, and these elements always seem to involve some form of self-punishment or an experience that imposes upon oneself extreme unease or mental instability. However, in the career of an actor, it must mainly focus on the internal work.”

A World of Imitators

Frankly, this sounds like the actor has come out from his retreat and found himself shocked by the world that has developed mirroring his methods. When you are regarded as one of the greatest performers in history, and your approach involves striking a prop to the point of injury (for Gangs of New York) or spending 48 hours in solitary confinement deprived of sustenance (during In the Name of the Father), it’s natural that other actors will attempt to emulate that example by trying to mimic their idol.

Essentially, we now live in a landscape populated by imperfect Day-Lewis impersonators who want nothing more than to show the world the extensive degree of effort they invest in a character. At the shallow end of the pool we have people like Lady Gaga, who was so desperate to earn an Academy Award with House of Gucci that she spent the entire promotion trying to convince everyone that she became functionally Italian for a year and a half in preparation.

Then we have Jared Leto, who chose to deeply embed himself into the role as the Joker (in Suicide Squad) through sending “disturbing” gifts to fellow cast members. These items, according to various accounts, range from deceased animals to anal beads and used condoms, though Leto denied those worst excesses. Then, naturally, we have Jim Carrey, who immersed himself so fully as Andy Kaufman during Man on the Moon that filmmakers succeeded to get a full-length documentary from behind-the-scenes footage of him making life to the utmost for everyone around him.

Contemporary Method Practitioners

The main Method Guy at the moment seems to be Jeremy Strong (once an assistant to Day-Lewis), whose process during Succession was so rigorously detailed that it became the subject of a derisive New Yorker profile, full of quotes from people who were either concerned for his behaviour (“The toll on himself concerns me,” said co-star Brian Cox) or annoyed beyond all measure by his actions (“I remember [him] making others roll their eyes,” said an anonymous cast member).

Daniel Day-Lewis says he ‘never intended to stop acting, truly’

We have so many other examples. Andrew Garfield abstained from sex for six months for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio slept in an animal carcass for The Revenant. There’s a fighting chance that Austin Butler still speaks like Elvis Presley, three years after the movie’s release. All of this, to some extent, aims to evoke the dedication in which Day-Lewis approaches his craft.

A Noble Yet Challenging Fight

And, while his fightback against method detractors might be noble, a short publicity tour might not be enough to change anyone’s mind, not to mention their practices. Perhaps if he wishes to remind people the true essence of the Method, or to demonstrate what it can achieve, then the optimal strategy for Day-Lewis is to just start making more films. Surely everyone would support that idea.