- Legendary actor Daniel Day-Lewis has broken a long public silence to criticize the modern interpretation of method acting.
- He stated he is “a little cross” that the technique is now equated with “behaving like a lunatic in an extreme fashion.”
- Day-Lewis argues the true craft is about internal work, not the headline-grabbing acts of self-discomfort many actors now pursue.
- His rare comments come during the promotional cycle for his new film, Anemone, which marks his return to the screen after his 2017 retirement.
Daniel Day-Lewis Condemns Modern “Method” Antics
After years away from the public eye, Daniel Day-Lewis is speaking out, and he’s not happy. The celebrated actor, famous for his own intense immersion into roles, has voiced his frustration with how “method acting” has been twisted into a spectacle of extreme behavior, a reputation he inadvertently helped build.
The Misunderstood Craft
In a recent interview, Day-Lewis expressed his anger at how the craft is perceived. “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,” he said. He stressed that the sensationalized details—like his own rumored on-set habits for films like Lincoln and My Left Foot—overshadow the real work, which he insists “has to principally be about the internal work.”
A Legacy of Lunacy?
Ironically, Day-Lewis’s legendary dedication is often seen as the blueprint for the very actors he seems to be criticizing. The current landscape is filled with performers whose extreme preparations have become notorious. This includes Jared Leto’s “horrifying” gifts to his Suicide Squad castmates, Lady Gaga’s claim of being “functionally Italian” for House of Gucci, and Jeremy Strong’s labor-intensive process on Succession, which reportedly irked his co-stars.
A New Chapter
While Day-Lewis’s attempt to reclaim the narrative is noble, his own legacy casts a long shadow. As he returns to the screen in his new film Anemone, the actor seems keen to remind audiences and peers what the method is truly about. For fans and critics alike, the best way he can prove his point is perhaps to simply keep working and show them how it’s done.
Image Referance: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/oct/06/daniel-day-lewis-is-cross-method-acting-is-equated-with-behaving-like-a-lunatic-thats-exactly-why-we-love-it
