Daniel Day-Lewis Rejects Method Acting Criticism, ‘Cult’ Misconception

Daniel Day-Lewis rejected misconceptions about Method acting during a wide-ranging conversation at the BFI London Film Festival on Wednesday, saying that criticism surrounding it comes from those who simply don’t understand.

The accomplished actor — a three-time best actor Oscar winner for “My Left Foot” (1989), “There Will Be Blood” (2007) and “Lincoln” (2012) — is known for his immersive process, devoting himself to staying in character throughout filming. Despite how it’s worked out for him, going Method has received a fair amount of pushback in recent years from those who believe it to be unhealthy — or just plain silly.

However, Day-Lewis pushed back against these notions after an audience member asked about his acting process, saying: “All the recent commentary in the last few years about Method acting is invariably from people who have little or no understanding of what it actually involves. It’s almost as if it’s some specious science that we’re involved in, or a cult. But it’s just a way of freeing yourself so that the spontaneity, when you are working with your colleagues in front of the camera, that you are free to respond in any way that you’ll move to in that moment.”

Day-Lewis went on to explain that going Method doesn’t mean “you’re sealed off from experiencing” your own real life, but rather that “you’re in a self-contained experience of your own.” He continued: “But really, if you’ve done your work, you should be free to accept whatever passes through you.”

Day-Lewis officially returned to acting last month after an eight-year break with “Anemone,” a psychological drama directed by his son, Ronan Day-Lewis. “Anemone” marks his first role since his Oscar-nominated turn in Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Phantom Thread” in 2017, before the release of which he announced his retirement.

Before discussing both “Anemone” and “Phantom Thread,” Day-Lewis reflected on Jim Sheridan’s “My Left Foot,” which marked a pivotal moment in both his career and acting process. The film saw Day-Lewis play celebrated Irish writer and painter Christy Brown, whose cerebral palsy meant he could only work with the toes of one foot. Day-Lewis acknowledged that changing attitudes regarding the portrayal of people with disabilities on screen meant it would not be a role he could accept in today’s world.

“Quite obviously, I would not be able to make that now — at the time it was already questionable,” he noted, adding that there had been criticism from members of the disabled community in Ireland. “A couple of the kids that helped me so much at the Sandymount Clinic made it clear to me that they didn’t think I should be doing it.”

But Day-Lewis also claimed that “My Left Foot,” and the months of preparation he was afforded as finances were put together, actually gave birth to his style of acting. He spent that time immersing himself in the world of his character, getting used to living in a wheelchair and writing and painting solely with his foot.

“Because there was no money when I signed up for it, I moved over to Dublin on this wing and a prayer,” he said. “And there was all the time in the world. I started to work with these wonderful people, I had a little house and I had my paints and my wheelchair and everything I needed. I guess I had a couple of months before we finally scraped enough money to do the first few scenes and I thought: I’m never not going to work like this again.”

Explaining why he takes his research for roles to such extremes, Day-Lewis said: “Look, it’s very easy to describe what I do as if I’m out of my mind. Plenty of people have been happy to do that, but it just makes sense to me … You have an obligation to try to understand as far as you’re humanly able to what it feels like to be inside of that experience.”