There will be bad blood between Daniel Day-Lewis and critics of his method style of acting.
The three-time Oscar winner and star of the new film “Anemone” shot back at detractors of the technique at the BFI London Film Festival on Wednesday, asserting that the naysayers are wrongheaded.
“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,” Day-Lewis, 68, said, per Variety.
“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.”
Method acting can involve, among other things, staying in character off-camera. According to Day-Lewis, that full-bore approach does not mean you’re “sealed off” from everybody, but “in a self-contained experience of your own.”
He added: “I still find that process a joyful thing. We’re playing games for a living.”
The “There Will Be Blood” star, who famously immerses himself in the parts he plays, returned to acting after an seven-year hiatus for his son Ronan Day-Lewis’ film “Anemone.”
While the actor has received praise, the new movie hasn’t fared so well. “Anemone” scored a 55% on RottenTomatoes, and The Post awarded it one star.
Day-Lewis recently admitted that he’s had second thoughts about announcing his retirement back in 2017 after making Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Phantom Thread.”
“Looking back on it now — I would have done well to just keep my mouth shut, for sure,” he told Rolling Stone.
“It just seems like such grandiose gibberish to talk about. I never intended to retire, really. I just stopped doing that particular type of work so I could do some other work.”
