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It has been a long while since the public saw or heard from the acclaimed actor Daniel Day-Lewis. Following his statement in 2017 that he would cease to work as an actor, just before the release of The Phantom Thread, Day-Lewis quietly faded from view. Yet, during his hiatus, his reputation expanded further.

The Mythos Surrounding His Method

Primarily, this legend revolves around his favored style of working. Being an actor who famously disappears into his characters – for instance, during the Lincoln biopic, reportedly asked the director call him “Mr. President” throughout the shoot – audiences has become more fascinated with his process. Is it true he actually sent messages to co-star Sally Field as Abraham Lincoln? Did he consumed solely 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 fallen out of love with actorly excess?

Currently, 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 perceived. “I am somewhat annoyed nowadays when I hear various individuals gobbling off and saying things 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-flagellation or an experience that causes extreme unease or mental instability. However, in the career for a performer, it must principally be about the inner transformation.”

An Industry of Imitators

Frankly, it appears like the actor has emerged from his retreat and found himself shocked by the world that has been created in his image. When you are regarded as among the best actors to ever work, and your approach involves headbutting a dummy until you break your nose (for Gangs of New York) or spending 48 hours in isolation without food or water (during In the Name of the Father), it’s natural that fellow performers will attempt to fill that vacuum by imitating their idol.

Essentially, we exist in a landscape full of half-cocked Day-Lewis impersonators who want nothing more than to demonstrate the sheer amount of effort they invest in a character. At the shallow end of the pool we have people like Lady Gaga, who was determined to earn an Academy Award for House of Gucci that she dedicated the whole campaign attempting to persuade people that she transformed into functionally Italian over 18 months as preparation.

Additionally, there is Jared Leto, who decided to deeply embed himself in the character as the Joker (in Suicide Squad) by sending “horrifying” gifts to his castmates. These items, depending on who you ask, range from dead pigs and rats to intimate objects and personal hygiene products, though the actor refuted those worst excesses. Then, of course, we have Jim Carrey, who went so deep as Andy Kaufman during Man on the Moon that they literally managed to get 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 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 magazine feature, including statements from individuals who were worried for his behaviour (“It’s the cost to himself concerns me,” said Brian Cox) or annoyed beyond all measure by his actions (“I recall [him] making everyone else roll their eyes,” stated an unnamed co-star).

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

There are so many other examples. Andrew Garfield went celibate over half a year for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio slept in a dead animal for The Revenant. There’s a fighting chance that Austin Butler continues to talk in the style of Elvis, three years after the movie’s release. Each of these instances, to some extent, aims to evoke the dedication with which Day-Lewis approaches his work.

An Admirable Yet Challenging Battle

And, although his rebuttal against method detractors might be noble, a short publicity tour might not be enough to alter perceptions, not to mention their behaviour. Maybe if he wishes to make audiences recall the true essence of the Method, or to show them what it can achieve, then Day-Lewis’s best bet is to simply begin producing more films. Surely we could all get behind that.