MovieChat Forums > My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown (1990) Discussion > Method Actors

Method Actors

posted 17 years ago by alice_in_punderland
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Daniel Day-Lewis is a wonderful actor and seems like a genuinely nice and humble person, but I wonder how his acting partners, directors, crews, feel about his Method acting practices. To be less antagonistic towards DDL: how do any movie/film cast and crew feel about any Method actors' practices?

I ask because in my first stage show, I acted opposite quite a good actor who was probably more Method than I realized. He would call me by my character name all the time and never really committed my real name to memory, later revealed in a social gaff that left me amused but also slightly miffed.

Despite the obvious work and dedication of Method actors, isn't it slightly rude to pretty much cast out everyone else's real lives? The people you're working with shouldn't just be characters in a fake story at the end of the day's shooting (even if adapted from truth) and with a character as complex, frustrated and frustrating on screen as Christy Brown, I would think some cast and crew members grew tiresome or annoyed of DDL's commitment.

I suppose since My Left Foot IS a true story, it could be perceived as a life lesson in mentally and physically comminucating to a person with cerebral palsy but even then, DDL is still only acting. Thoughts?

Having your book made into a movie is like seeing your oxen made into bouillon cubes. -John LeCarre

[–] acts2120 17 years ago

I was a theatre major, and I do not understand the mindset that says that a Method actor must continue w/ the character after the director has yelled "cut".

Sometimes, it is necessary, if the scenes tend to great emotionalism, to remove one's self from the parameters of "ordinary company" simply because the jocular behavior on a set can seriously detract from touching deep emotions. Acting is like getting naked; an actor has to be willing to expose his/her deepest emotions, and that can be pretty uncomfortable at times.

It is possible that he stayed in character in order to generate response from the rest of the cast/crew, because the way others act towards us engenders certain emotional responses, and living a certain way, and being fresh off of the way other people treat you can be a great creative drive.

But every day, day in and day out, staying "in character"??? Not healthy. I think that it is possible to turn it off, once in a while - and certainly to apologize for one's behavior at SOME point!!

But, then, maybe that's why he won an Oscar and I didn't. But imho, Cate Blanchett is the most brilliant actress alive, and she's pretty method, and she's not rude to anyone on the set, that I've ever heard.