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It’s been a long while since anyone caught a glimpse of Daniel Day-Lewis. After he statement in 2017 that he would cease to work as an actor, prior to the release of Phantom Thread, the actor withdrew from the spotlight. Yet, during his hiatus, his legend expanded further.

The Legend of His Acting Method

Largely, this reputation revolves around his preferred approach to roles. As someone known for immerses himself in his characters – for instance, during the Lincoln biopic, he had Steven Spielberg address him as “Mr. President” for the entire production – audiences has grown increasingly obsessed with his process. Did he really send texts to Sally Field in character as Lincoln? Did he consumed solely game he hunted for Last of the Mohicans? And did he demand being spoon-fed while filming My Left Foot?

Madness in their method: has the public fallen out of love with over-the-top performances?

Currently, Day-Lewis has returned in the limelight, with some hesitation, for his new film Anemone. And he is using this to express his frustration at how method acting is viewed. “I am somewhat annoyed nowadays when I hear all kinds of people gobbling off and saying things like ‘fully embraced the Method’, which seems suggests that someone is acting insane in an extreme fashion,” he stated to the New York Times. “Everyone tends to focus on superficial aspects of acting, and those details typically include some sort of self-flagellation or an experience that causes extreme unease or psychological strain. However, in the career of an actor, it has to mainly focus on the internal work.”

An Industry Full of Followers

To be honest, this sounds like the actor has come out from his retreat only to discover shocked by the acting community that has developed in his image. If you’re regarded as one of the greatest actors in history, and your process involves striking a prop until you break your nose (for Gangs of New York) or enduring two days in solitary confinement deprived of sustenance (for In the Name of the Father), it’s natural that other actors will want to emulate that example by trying to mimic your hero.

In other words, we exist in an environment full of half-cocked imitators of Day-Lewis who want nothing more than to show the world the extensive degree of dedication they put into their roles. On the milder side of the pool there are performers such as Lady Gaga, who was determined to win an Oscar with House of Gucci that she dedicated 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 into the role as the Joker (in Suicide Squad) by sending “horrifying” gifts to his castmates. These, depending on who you ask, included deceased animals to anal beads and personal hygiene products, although Leto denied the most extreme claims. Then, naturally, there is Jim Carrey, who went so deep into Andy Kaufman during Man on the Moon that they succeeded to get a full-length documentary out of B-roll of him causing difficulties as impossible as he could for everyone around him.

Contemporary Followers of the Method

The main Method Guy currently seems to be Jeremy Strong (formerly Day-Lewis’s assistant), whose process while filming Succession was so laboriously intensive that it formed the basis of a derisive New Yorker profile, full of quotes from people who were worried about his conduct (“It’s the cost to himself that worries me,” said co-star Brian Cox) or annoyed beyond all measure by his actions (“I recall [him] making others to react with exasperation,” said an anonymous cast member).

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

We have numerous additional cases. Andrew Garfield went celibate for six months while preparing for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio rested inside an animal carcass during 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, is meant to invoke the seriousness with which Day-Lewis takes his craft.

An Admirable Yet Challenging Fight

Moreover, although his rebuttal against method detractors could be commendable, a short publicity tour might not be enough to alter perceptions, let alone their practices. Perhaps if he wishes to remind people what method acting is, or to show them what it can achieve, then the optimal strategy for Day-Lewis is to simply begin producing additional movies. Surely everyone would get behind that.