Even though filmmaking is a collaborative art, it’s never a given that everyone involved will play nice. Something similar unfolded when actor Brian Cox criticised Daniel Day-Lewis’s use of method acting. Now, the Lincoln star has responded to Cox’s remarks, and it’s safe to say Day-Lewis isn’t acting this time.
The whole thing started when Cox repeatedly kept bringing up Succession co-star Jeremy Strong’s way of method acting. He appeared on Late Night with Seth Meyers and said that Day-Lewis influenced Strong’s acting, and now this intense way of doing the job might cause him to burn out quickly.
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He said, “The thing about Jeremy’s approach is it works in terms of what comes out the other end. My problem — and it’s not a problem; I don’t have a problem with Jeremy because he’s delightful. But he does get obsessed with the work. And I worry about what it does to him, because if you can’t separate yourself, because you’re dealing with all of this material every day. You can’t live in it. Eventually, you get worn out. Like, to me, Daniel Day-Lewis got worn out at 55 and decided to retire because he couldn’t go on doing that every day.”
While talking to the UK’s Big Issue, Daniel Day-Lewis expressed displeasure at being dragged into the debate over method acting and said, “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 f*** that came from.”
Day-Lewis even appreciated Jeremy Strong’s performance and said, “He’s a very fine actor. I don’t know about how he goes about these things, but I don’t feel responsible for any of that.”
During a separate conversation with The Guardian, Brian Cox appreciated Strong’s skill as an actor but said that he needed to drop out of character when the cameras weren’t rolling. “He would be an even better actor if he just got rid of that, so there would be much more inclusiveness in what he did. Well, it’s not good for the ensemble. It creates hostility. That’s the problem,” said Cox.
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Daniel Day-Lewis was last seen in the film Anemone, which was both his son’s directorial debut and his return to the screen.
