With a new cohort of Method actors working in today’s Hollywood, Daniel Day-Lewis is disappointed with the craft’s public perception.
The 3x Academy Award winner, who earned his first Oscar after establishing his own form of Method acting for My Left Foot (1989), recently admitted he’s “a little cross” with actors who go Method today as an excuse for “behaving like a lunatic.”
“I don’t really like thinking of acting in terms of craft at all. Of course, there are techniques you can learn, and I know that the Method has become an easy target these days,” he told The New York Times. “I’m a little cross these days to hear all kinds of people gobbling off and saying things like ‘gone full Method,’ which I think is meant to imply that a person’s behaving like a lunatic in an extreme fashion.”
Day-Lewis continued, “Everyone tends to focus on the less important details of the work, and those details always seem to involve some sort of self-flagellation or an experience that imposes upon oneself a severe discomfort or mental instability. But of course, in the life of an actor, it has to principally be about the internal work.”
Since Day-Lewis prematurely announced his retirement in 2017, several other actors have become known for their embrace of Method acting, including Jared Leto, Jeremy Strong and James Franco.
While Method acting has performers immerse themselves in a role by drawing from their own experiences and emotions for a more authentic portrayal, some even stay in character off-set. Actors like Andrew Garfield, Chloë Sevigny and Brian Cox have spoken out against their peers who use Method to excuse their own bad behavior.
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