Daniel Day-Lewis’ intense method acting clashes with Brian Cox
Daniel Day-Lewis has reignited Hollywood’s fiercest acting debate – over method or madness – after clashing with Brian Cox over what the veteran actor called the “madness” of method acting.
But RadarOnline.com can reveal that for Day-Lewis, 68, it is not madness, but devotion – while for Cox it represents self-indulgence.
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Day-Lewis’ philosophy on acting
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Daniel Day-Lewis fully immersed himself in his character during filming.
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Three-time Oscar winner Day-Lewis, who returns to the screens this year in his son’s film Anemonedefended his lifelong dedication to the profession The big probleminsisting that critics ‘don’t understand’ what methodism really means.
He said: “I just don’t like it being misrepresented to the extent that that has happened. I can’t think of a single commentator who cares about the method that has any understanding of how it works. They focus on, ‘Oh, he lived in a prison cell for six months.’ Those are the least important details.”
Day-Lewis added: “It p—– me off, this whole ‘Oh, he went full method’ thing. What the fuck, you know? Because it’s invariably tied to the idea of some kind of madness.”
A Hollywood insider said: “Daniel doesn’t see it as madness – he sees it as the truth. Every role he’s played, he’s lived it. He doesn’t pretend, he becomes it. That’s the difference.”
Day-Lewis’ journey through cinema is a history of extremes.
In My beautiful laundromat (1985) he transformed into the working-class punk Johnny, who immersed himself in London’s Vauxhall district and adopted a South London accent that never got out of hand, on or off.
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Legendary transformations
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Day-Lewis pushed boundaries as he prepared for a tense confrontation.
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Three years later, inside The unbearable lightness of existence (1988), he played Czech surgeon Tomas and learned Czech to capture the soul of Kundera’s conflicted protagonist.
But that’s what it was My left foot (1989) that established his legend – as he remained confined to a wheelchair throughout the shoot as Christy Brown, the Irish poet with cerebral palsy, and was even spoon-fed by the crew.
The effort broke two of his ribs but won him his first Oscar.
For The Last of the Mohicans (1992), he trained for months in the wilderness, where he learned to hunt, track and build canoes by hand.
He carried his flintlock rifle everywhere – even to Christmas dinner – and once admitted: ‘I find it difficult to be in rooms for long periods of time now.’
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Extreme immersion in rolling
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Cox studied Day-Lewis’ performance before delivering his own lyrics.
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His portrayal of the wrongly imprisoned Gerry Conlon In the Name of the Father (1993) saw him lose 50 pounds, sleep in a cell for three days, and be repeatedly doused with cold water to simulate an interrogation.
For The melting pot (1996), he built his own 17th-century hut, lived without electricity and rode horses to the set, rejecting modern transportation.
And for his role in it The Boxer (1997), he trained for 18 months under world champion Barry McGuigan, during which he broke his nose.
Then came Gangs of New York (2002), where he learned how to slaughter, wore authentic period clothing in freezing conditions, and contracted pneumonia from refusing antibiotics.
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Precision and discipline
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Day-Lewis consulted with the director to perfect every moment during filming.
Even when roles required refinement, his preparation was exhaustive. In Nine (2009) he rehearsed five hours a day singing and dancing in the role of the Italian director Guido Contini.
For Lincoln (2012), he lived fully as president, speaking only with Abraham Lincoln’s Kentucky accent and insisting on being addressed as “Mr. President’.
His turn Phantom wire (2017), fashion designer Reynolds Woodcock showed a quieter kind of “madness”: he apprenticed with Marc Happel, head of costume at the New York City Ballet, and handmade a couture dress for his wife, Rebecca Miller.
Now, in the newly released AnemoneDay-Lewis returns after an eight-year hiatus as a reclusive ex-soldier haunted by his past in Northern Ireland.
Surprisingly, his only preparation was mastering a Sheffield accent.
One crew member said: “He’s older now – maybe calmer – but it’s still all-consuming. Even if he does less, he does more than anyone else.”
