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It’s been a long while since the public saw or heard from Daniel Day-Lewis. Following his statement in 2017 that he would no longer work as an actor, prior to the debut of Phantom Thread, the actor quietly faded from view. However, in his absence, his legend expanded further.

The Mythos Surrounding His Acting Method

Primarily, this legend centers on his favored approach to roles. Being an actor known for immerses himself in his characters – for example, while filming Lincoln, reportedly asked the director call him “Mr President” throughout the shoot – audiences has grown more fascinated with his process. Is it true he really send texts to Sally Field in character as Lincoln? Did he only eat animals he’d killed for Last of the Mohicans? And did he demand being spoon-fed for My Left Foot?

Extreme acting methods: has the public lost interest with actorly excess?

Currently, Daniel Day-Lewis has returned to public attention, somewhat reluctantly, promoting his latest movie Anemone. He is using this to express his anger at how the Method technique is viewed. “I’m a little cross nowadays to hear various individuals gobbling off and using phrases like ‘gone full method’, which I think is meant to imply that someone is acting insane in a drastic way,” he told a major publication. “Everyone tends to focus on superficial details of the work, and those details typically include some sort of self-flagellation or an experience that causes extreme unease or mental instability. But of course, in the life of an actor, it has to mainly focus on the internal work.”

A World of Imitators

Frankly, this sounds as if Day-Lewis has emerged from seclusion only to discover aghast at the acting community that has been created mirroring his methods. If you’re widely considered among the best actors in history, and your process involves striking a prop until you break your nose (in Gangs of New York) or spending 48 hours in isolation without food or water (for In the Name of the Father), it’s natural that fellow performers will want to emulate that example by trying to mimic your hero.

Essentially, we exist in an environment populated by imperfect Day-Lewis impersonators who want nothing more than to show the world the extensive degree of effort they put into a character. At the shallow end of the pool we have people like Lady Gaga, who was so desperate to win an Oscar for House of Gucci that she dedicated the whole campaign trying to convince everyone that she became functionally Italian over 18 months in preparation.

Additionally, there is Jared Leto, who chose to immerse himself in the character of the Joker (in Suicide Squad) through sending “disturbing” presents to fellow cast members. These, according to various accounts, range from deceased animals to anal beads and personal hygiene products, though Leto denied the most extreme claims. And then, naturally, there is Jim Carrey, who immersed himself so fully as Andy Kaufman during Man on the Moon that filmmakers literally managed to get a full-length documentary out of B-roll of him making life as impossible as he could for his colleagues.

The Modern Method Practitioners

The foremost practitioner of the Method at the moment seems to be Jeremy Strong (formerly Day-Lewis’s assistant), whose approach during Succession was so rigorously detailed that it became the subject of a derisive magazine feature, full of quotes from people who were either concerned for his behaviour (“The toll to himself that worries me,” remarked Brian Cox) or annoyed beyond all measure by it (“I remember [him] making everyone else roll their eyes,” stated an unnamed co-star).

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

There are so many other examples. Andrew Garfield went celibate over half a year for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio rested inside a dead animal for The Revenant. It’s quite possible that actor Austin Butler continues to talk in the style of Elvis, years following the movie’s release. Each of these instances, to some extent, aims to evoke the seriousness with which Day-Lewis approaches his work.

An Admirable Yet Challenging Fight

And, although his rebuttal to critics of the Method might be noble, a short publicity tour may prove insufficient to change anyone’s mind, let alone their practices. Perhaps if he wants to remind people what method acting is, or to demonstrate what it can achieve, then the optimal strategy for Day-Lewis is to just begin producing additional movies. Certainly everyone would support that idea.