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It has been a long while since the public saw or heard from Daniel Day-Lewis. Following his announcement in 2017 that he would cease to work as an actor, prior to the release of The Phantom Thread, Day-Lewis withdrew from the spotlight. Yet, in his absence, his legend expanded further.

The Mythos of His Method

Primarily, this legend revolves around his preferred style of working. As someone who famously immerses himself in his characters – for example, while filming Lincoln, reportedly asked the director address him as “Mr. President” throughout the shoot – audiences has become increasingly obsessed with his process. Is it true he really send texts to Sally Field as Abraham Lincoln? Was it accurate that he consumed solely animals he’d killed 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 over-the-top performances?

Now, Daniel Day-Lewis is back to public attention, with some hesitation, promoting his latest movie Anemone. He is using this to express his anger regarding how the Method technique is perceived. “I’m a little cross these days when I hear all kinds of people talking carelessly and saying things like ‘fully embraced the Method’, which seems suggests that a person’s behaving like a lunatic in a drastic way,” he stated to the New York Times. “People tends to focus on superficial aspects of acting, and these elements typically include some sort of self-punishment or a situation that imposes upon oneself extreme unease or mental instability. But of course, in the life for a performer, it has to mainly focus on the inner transformation.”

A World Full of Followers

To be honest, it appears as if the actor has come out from his retreat and found himself shocked by the world that has been created mirroring his methods. If you’re widely considered one of the greatest actors to ever work, and your process includes headbutting a dummy to the point of injury (for Gangs of New York) or spending 48 hours in isolation deprived of sustenance (during In the Name of the Father), it’s natural that fellow performers will attempt to emulate that example by imitating their idol.

Essentially, we exist in a landscape populated by imperfect imitators of Day-Lewis who strive only to demonstrate the sheer amount of effort they put into their roles. On the milder side of the pool we have people like Lady Gaga, who was determined to earn an Academy Award with 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 in preparation.

Additionally, there is Jared Leto, who chose to immerse himself in the character of the Joker (for Suicide Squad) by sending “disturbing” gifts to fellow cast members. These, depending on who you ask, range from deceased animals to intimate objects and used condoms, though Leto denied those worst excesses. Then, naturally, there is Jim Carrey, who went so deep into Andy Kaufman for Man on the Moon that they succeeded to get a feature-length documentary from behind-the-scenes footage of him making life to the utmost for his colleagues.

The Modern Method Practitioners

The main practitioner of the Method at the moment seems to be Jeremy Strong (formerly Day-Lewis’s assistant), whose process while filming Succession was so laboriously intensive that it became the subject of a derisive New Yorker profile, full of quotes from individuals who were either concerned about his conduct (“It’s the cost on himself that worries me,” remarked co-star Brian Cox) or annoyed beyond all measure by it (“I remember him causing everyone else roll their eyes,” said an anonymous cast member).

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

We have numerous additional cases. Andrew Garfield went celibate for six months while preparing for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio slept in a dead animal for The Revenant. There’s a fighting chance that Austin Butler still speaks in the style of Elvis, three years after that film came out. All of this, to some extent, is meant to invoke the dedication in which Day-Lewis approaches his craft.

An Admirable Yet Challenging Battle

And, although his rebuttal to critics of the Method could be commendable, a brief promotional cycle may prove insufficient to alter perceptions, not to mention their behaviour. Perhaps if he wants to remind people the true essence of the Method, or to show them its potential results, then Day-Lewis’s best bet is to just begin producing more films. Certainly we could all support that idea.