Daniel Day-Lewis has spoken out over being drawn into what he called a “handbags at dawn conflict” with fellow actor Brian Cox over method acting.
Speaking to the Big Issue, Day-Lewis reflected on his commitment to the technique being pitted against the scepticism of Cox, who had made disparaging remarks about the approach adopted by actors including his Succession co-star Jeremy Strong, suggesting he’d found his on-set behaviour “irritating”.
“Listen, I worked with Brian Cox once and got somehow drawn into this handbags at dawn conflict inadvertently,” said Day-Lewis. “Brian is a very fine actor who’s done extraordinary work. As a result, he’s been given a soapbox … which he shows no sign of climbing down from. Any time he wants to talk about it, I’m easy to find.
“If I thought during our work together I’d interfered with his working process, I’d be appalled. But I don’t think it was like that. So I don’t know where the fuck that came from. Jeremy Strong is a very fine actor, I don’t know how he goes about things, but I don’t feel responsible in any way for that.”
Day-Lewis’s unhappiness with the representation of method acting – whereby an actor immerses themselves in their character both on and off set – has become apparent on the press tour for his new film, Anemone.
He has addressed the issue in most, if not all, of his recent interviews. Appearing at the BFI Southbank last month, Day-Lewis said “recent commentary” about the technique “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.”
He told the Big Issue: “I can’t think of a single commentator who’s gobbed off about the method that has any understanding of how it works and the intention behind it.
“They focus on, ‘Oh, he lived in a jail cell for six months’ [for 1993 film In the Name of the Father]. Those are the least important details. In all the performing arts, people find their methods as a means to an end. It’s with the intention of freeing yourself so you present your colleagues with a living, breathing human being they can interact with. It’s very simple.
“So it pisses me off this whole, ‘Oh, he went full method,’ thing … Because it’s invariably attached to the idea of some kind of lunacy.”
Day-Lewis went on to contrast his own on-set professionalism with that of some of his colleagues, who instead spend their time playing pranks.
“I choose to stay and splash around,” said Day-Lewis, “rather than jump in and out or play practical jokes with whoopee cushions between takes or whatever people think is how you should behave as an actor.”
Anemone, the directorial debut of Ronan Day-Lewis, who co-wrote it with his father, opens in the UK on 7 November.