Egress

Savai'i, Samoa
August 2024

"I need to believe in the value of what I'm doing. The work can seem vital, irresistible, even. And if an audience believes it, that should be good enough for me. But, lately, it isn't."
- Daniel Day-Lewis.

Many people consider Daniel Day-Lewis to be not only the most extreme actor of the current era, but also the finest (1).

Day-Lewis grew up near London and was impetuous to the point of delinquency (2). His father, an Irish writer and poet, and his mother, an actress, were so concerned with his wild behaviour that they sent him to an independent school at age 11. At this school, Day-Lewis developed a keen interest in three pursuits, which included acting, woodworking, and fishing (not necessarily in that order). At the age of 18, he had to choose one of these pursuits as a vocation. He chose, and ended up applying for a 5-year apprenticeship as a cabinet maker. Unfortunately (fortunately?), due to a lack of experience, he was not accepted, and so he applied to a drama school instead, where he excelled.

Day-Lewis adhered to an acting style known as method acting, which attempts to identify and understand a character's inner motivations (3). He developed an unremitting work ethic and studied his characters to a maximal level, which could take up to a year in some cases. During filming, he brought extreme intensity to the set (4), remaining totally in character, even to the point where it sometimes negatively affected his health. Post-filming, he was generally not wholly satisfied with his performance, and found flaws in what most people considered exceptional work. Day-Lewis was one of the most selective actors in the industry, starring in only 21 films over a 45-year acting career (2).

​His first breakout film was perhaps My Left Foot (1989), at age 32. Day-Lewis played Christy Brown, an Irish writer and painter with cerebral palsy, who was disabled to such an extent that he could only write, type, or paint with his left foot (5). Day-Lewis researched and prepared for the role by making frequent visits to a school clinic in Dublin, where he became friends with a number of people with disabilities, some of whom could not speak. During filming, he refused to break character and had to be transported around the set in his wheelchair, with crew members cursing at having to maneuver him around the cameras and other equipment. The crew members were even required to spoon-feed him. Day-Lewis insisted on doing all this so that he could learn about all aspects of Brown's life, bar none.

​More films followed, with two of the most notable being The Last of the Mohicans (1992) and The Boxer (1997). For the former film, Day-Lewis underwent a rigorous training regimen, gaining 10 kg of muscle. He studied and learned how to hunt, build canoes, and live off the land where his character, Nathaniel "Hawkeye" Poe, would have resided (1). During filming, he carried a long rifle at all times to remain in character. In The Boxer, Day-Lewis played competitive boxer Danny Flynn. He attended professional matches and trained with Barry McGuigan, a former boxing champion (2). McGuigan was impressed with Day-Lewis' fighting skills, and even considered that he was good enough to fight professionally, if he so chose. 

Day-Lewis on why he became an actor, and how he "never stopped putting away childish things."

Day-Lewis as Christy Brown, in My Left Foot.

As Hawkeye, in Last of the Mohicans.

As Danny Flynn, in The Boxer.

Egress

After filming The Boxer, Day-Lewis made an unexpected career decision that saw him depart the acting world. During a 3-year period (from about 1997 to 2000, in his early 40s), he moved to Italy. 

During much of this time, Day-Lewis reinvigorated his interest in craftmanship and became an apprentice cobbler, or shoe maker, in the city of Florence, to the legendary shoe maker, Stefano Bermer (6). He worked with Berner for nearly a year, showing up every morning to improve at his new craft. It is not clear what he did with the remainder of his 3 years.

Indeed, it is not clear why Day-Lewis took a 3-year egress from acting, but perhaps, as the quote above indicates, he no longer believed in the value of what he was doing. Alternatively, given his early childhood interest in building things, perhaps he wanted to place value in making shoes. Or perhaps he had just attained such a high level in acting that he no longer felt sufficiently challenged or motivated, and he wanted to pursue perfection elsewhere; it has been said that what drew Day-Lewis and Berner together was their shared pursuit of perfection, and they they each possessed a similar level of passion for their respective vocations (7).

As an apprentice cobbler in Florence, Italy.

Stefano Bermer, maker of premier quality Italian shoes.

Return

Although it remains a mystery as to what Day-Lewis did over the rest of his 3-year departure, it did not involve acting. He was been asked many times about it, but he refuses to elaborate. Eventually, in 2000, the filmmaker Martin Scorcese (and his future co-star, Leonardo DiCaprio), pitched a film role to him that he initially resisted, but ultimately accepted. The egress was over. 

​The film marking his return was Gangs of New York (2002), at age 45 (2). Day-Lewis took on the role of gang leader William "Bill the Butcher" Cutting. To prepare for the role, he became an expert in butchery and hired circus performers to teach him how to throw knives, like Bill did. He also never broke character while filming and maintained Bill's gruff New York accent the whole time. At one point he was diagnosed with pneumonia, but refused to wear a warmer coat or get treatment, as it would not be consistent with the period (eventually, he acquiesced). Day-Lewis' performance was the highlight of the film.

The two most notable films towards the end of his career would be There Will Be Blood (2007), at age 50, and Lincoln (2012), at age 55. To play oil tycoon, Daniel Plainview, in the former, Day-Lewis studied letters and photographs from the period, and read up on a real tycoon, Edward Doheny, upon whom the script was loosely based (8). He spent an entire year to prepare for Lincoln, reading over 100 books about the man, working long hours with a make-up artist to look as much like Abraham Lincoln as possible, and speaking with the man's voice during the entire filming period. When the film was released, Time magazine lauded Day-Lewis as "The World's Greatest Actor" (9).

Day-Lewis as Bill The Butcher, in Gangs of New York.

Possibly the world's greatest actor (although, Day-Lewis himself might disagree).

In 2017, Day-Lewis once again retired, possibly for good. Once again, his motives are not truly known - perhaps he no longer believes in the value of what he is doing, or wants to pursue perfection elsewhere. Or perhaps, he feels he has made such a significant contribution in the field of acting such that "more" is not necessary. Some sources say that he may now be apprenticing with artisanal craftsmen across Europe, or possibly writing a book about his life (10).

Or maybe there's just too much world left to explore, particularly for a man who chooses not to put away childish things. Maybe, for some people, life must always be an adventure...or it's nothing at all.

​Solace.

References
(1)  Daniel Day-Lewis - Biography. https://web.archive.org/web/20151016233306/http://www.talktalk.co.uk/entertainment/film/biography/artist/daniel-day-lewis/biography/24.
(2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Day-Lewis.
(3) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Method_acting.
(4) https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/22/actors-daniel-day-lewis-retiring.
(5) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christy_Brown.
(6) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefano_Bemer.
(7) https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/daniel-day-lewis-shoemaker-italy/.
(8) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There_Will_Be_Blood#:~:text=While%20writing%20the%20script%2C%20he,Sinclair's%20book%20is%20loosely%20based.
(9) https://content.time.com/time/covers/europe/0,16641,20121105,00.html.
(10) https://celebritiesdoingnow.com/what-is-daniel-day-lewis-doing-now/.