Method acting claims upset legendary actor

OSCAR-WINNING actor Sir Daniel Day-Lewis has said the misrepresentation of his method acting “pisses me off” as it is “invariably attached to the idea of some kind of lunacy”.

- HANNAH ROBERTS

Sir Daniel, 68, known for using method techniques that focus on psychological and physical immersion, is said to have lived in a tent on a deserted Texan oil field during the making of There Will Be Blood (2007) and spent two or three days in a prison cell without food and water to play Guildford Four member Gerry Conlon for film In The Name Of The Father (1993).

He told the Big Issue: “I just don’t like it being misrepresented to the extent it has been.

“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 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.