Daniel Day-Lewis Declines Responsibility for Jeremy Strong
While Daniel Day-Lewis stepped back from acting, discussions arose about his career and influence. Brian Cox, known for disliking Method acting, suggested Day-Lewis’ intense dedication to it led to his early retirement. Cox also criticized Jeremy Strong, Day-Lewis’ co-star in Succession, claiming Strong modeled his Method acting after Day-Lewis.
Day-Lewis Responds to Criticism
Daniel Day-Lewis distanced himself from these claims in an interview with Big Issue magazine. He described an unexpected conflict with Brian Cox, emphasizing Cox’s professionalism but rejecting the drama around their differing views:
“Listen, I worked with Brian Cox once and got somehow drawn into this handbags-at-dawn conflict inadvertently. 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.”
Day-Lewis also made clear he never wanted to interfere with Cox’s process and expressed confusion over the criticism:
“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 fuck that came from.”
On Method Acting and Influence
Regarding Jeremy Strong, Day-Lewis praised his talent but denied any sense of responsibility for Strong’s acting method:
“Jeremy Strong is a very fine actor, I don’t know how he goes about things, but I don’t feel responsible in any way for that.”
Day-Lewis has previously stated that Method acting is not a cult-like practice he promotes among others, and he does not believe it strongly affects his co-stars.
Strong echoed this sentiment, saying, “It’s a very solitary thing."
Author’s Summary
Daniel Day-Lewis firmly rejects any accountability for Jeremy Strong’s acting approach and distances himself from Brian Cox’s criticism about Method acting’s impact.