Daniel Day-Lewis distances himself from Jeremy Strong’s Method acting
While Daniel Day-Lewis was taking a break from acting, much discussion arose about his approach to Method acting. Actor Brian Cox, who has long criticized the Method, suggested that Day-Lewis’ intense commitment to it led to his early retirement. Cox also lamented that his Succession co-star Jeremy Strong seemed to follow Day-Lewis’s example.
Day-Lewis, however, firmly rejects any responsibility for Strong’s artistic choices and has no interest in furthering the debate.
“Listen, I worked with Brian Cox once and got somehow drawn into this handbags-at-dawn conflict inadvertently. 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,” Day-Lewis told Big Issue magazine.
“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 has previously clarified that Method acting is not a doctrine or a following he expects others to adopt, emphasizing that it affects only his own process. Jeremy Strong, for his part, has said of his work approach:
“It’s a very solitary thing.”
Author’s Summary
Daniel Day-Lewis dismisses claims linking him to Jeremy Strong’s intense acting style, reaffirming that his Method acting choices reflect only his own process, not a model for others.