Daniel Day-Lewis’ Intense Commitment To Method Acting Almost Led To His Death

Highlights

• Daniel Day-Lewis’s extreme methods of preparation make him one of the most legendary actors of all time.
• Day-Lewis refused modern medicine while filming Gangs of New York.
• Day-Lewis nearly died on set due to pneumonia.

Daniel Day-Lewis does not mess around. He’s considered one of the greatest actors of all time, and is perhaps one of the most legendary when it comes to his extreme methods of preparation.

He learned how to make dresses to play a fashion designer in Phantom Thread (2017), he spent months working the amateur fighting circuit before he shot The Boxer (1997), and he refused to walk or use his limbs to portray a man with cerebral palsy in My Left Foot (1989). These extreme practices pale, in comparison, however, to what he did during the making of Gangs of New York (2002).

Day-Lewis got so caught up in recreating the lifestyle of the character he refused medical care, and it nearly cost him his life.

Day-Lewis Refused Modern Medicine Because His Character Lived In The 1840s

Gangs of New York is a sprawling gangster drama set during the 1860s. Daniel Day-Lewis plays the antagonist of the film, Bill “The Butcher” Cutting, and true to form, he went to great lengths to ensure that his performance was as authentic as possible. He studied with butchers to learn how to properly cut up meat, and he practiced with circus performers to make sure he could properly throw knives.

These specific choices made sense, but it was Day-Lewis’ commitment elsewhere that got him in trouble. He contracted pneumonia during the making of the film, and because his character would not have had access to modern medicine in the 1860s, he was steadfast in his decision to stay authentic, and he refused treatment.

The decision proved detrimental to Day-Lewis’ physical state. The actor grew increasingly weaker during production of the film, and rather than take it easy or attempt to rest on days without shooting, he would roam the streets of Rome (where Gangs of New York was being shot) in character, and occasionally start fights with locals. The actor admitted that he nearly died during production.

When asked about his refusal of medicine, Day-Lewis confirmed the story, and told The Independent that it was important to his process. He acknowledged that the decision was dangerous, but accepted it more as an occupational hazard:

“I had to do my preparation. I remembered the days of fighting on the Millwall terraces, and they stood me in good stead for Bill the Butcher. He was a bit of a punk, a marvelous character and a joy to be, but not so good for my physical or mental health.”

Day-Lewis Caught Pneumonia After Wearing Period Accurate Clothing On Set

Daniel Day-Lewis was the only actor who caught pneumonia on the set of Gangs of New York, and it was because he was the only one who insisted on wearing period-accurate clothing. He found clothing that had been cobbled together from the nineteenth century, and balked at the notion of wearing reinforced padding despite the frigid temperatures of the locations in which the film was being made.

Leonardo DiCaprio recalled interacting with Day-Lewis during an interview with Cheat Sheet, and he admitted that he was intimidated by the ferocity that his co-star brought to the set each day, even when he was deathly ill:

“It was like two days before we started shooting, and you know, we’d been saying, ‘Hi Daniel,’ ‘Hi Marty,’ ‘Good morning,’ stuff like that. I said, ‘Morning Daniel,’ and he went, [grunts]. I said, ‘Oh s**t,’ game on.’”

Day-Lewis was navigating the extremes of a psychopathic character while contending with an illness that, according to the American Lung Association, can induce delirium and/or confusion if untreated.

Obviously, Day-Lewis was refusing treatment, so there’s a possibility that the illness could have played a role in some of the actor’s more infamous choices during the film’s production. Some of these choices include:

• Taping a glass eye prosthetic over his eyeball
• Tapping the prosthetic with the blade of a knife
• Breaking his nose during a fight scene with DiCaprio
• Continuing to film the scene after the injury
• Refusing to wash his hair

According to WhatCulture, Day-Lewis was ultimately convinced to take medicine at the behest of director Martin Scorsese and a doctor that had been brought on set.

Day-Lewis Admits That He Took Things Too Far And Went ‘Totally Mad’

Daniel Day-Lewis conceded that he went further in his immersion of Bill the Butcher than any other character he played, and likely went too far in a few places. “I will admit that I went mad, totally mad,” he told The Independent. Despite his regret, audiences and critics were amazed by his performance, and he received dozens of prestigious nominations, including:

Martin Scorsese may have had some concerns about Day-Lewis’ well-being during the making of Gangs of New York, but he gushed about the actor’s intensity during a 2023 video interview with GQ:

“Daniel is a very specific and a very intense actor. If I’m talking to Bill the Butcher, and in between takes, it’s Daniel… I’m still talking to Bill. He stays in that character. We’re not playing. Well, we’re playing it. But we’re living it, so he’s very good that way.”

While the process that Day-Lewis goes through yields incredible results, the toll it takes on his body, and in the case of Gangs of New York, his health, were factors that led to his decision to retire from acting in 2017.

He elaborated on the importance of his self-imposed retirement in a W Magazine profile:

“I did want to draw a line. I didn’t want to get sucked back into another project. All my life, I’ve mouthed off about how I should stop acting, and I don’t know why it was different this time, but the impulse to quit took root in me, and that became a compulsion. It was something I had to do.”

Day-Lewis was the subject of another health scare in June 2023, when he was seen traveling around New York on crutches.

There were rumors that the actor had suffered an injury, or was secretly preparing to play a new film role (a rumor that gained steam due to his glasses and uncharacteristically unkempt hair), but the actor’s reps did not respond to inquiries.

Source: NewsFinale