How Daniel Day-Lewis frustrated co-star Vicky Krieps: “I was just really tired of it”
Within the world of cinema, Daniel Day-Lewis is afforded a reputation that most actors could only ever dream of. Admittedly, the London-born actor’s filmography boasts an impressive number of utterly iconic films, from his early successes in the likes of My Beautiful Laundrette and A Room with a View to more recent classics like There Will Be Blood and Gangs of New York. However, the legendary status heaped upon Day-Lewis has often caused frustration for his co-stars.
Daniel Day-Lewis is often hailed for his pioneering techniques of method acting. The technique sees actors adopt the traits of their characters through every aspect of everyday life in preparation for their roles. While many actors throughout cinematic history have employed method acting to improve their performances, few have taken it to the extremes of Day-Lewis. For instance, the actor spent months in a wheelchair in preparation for My Left Foot in 1989 and trained for three years as a pugilist for The Boxer in 1997.
Reportedly, the actor would often insist on being called by his character’s name in the run-up to a production, particularly while on set in between scenes. His ability to take method acting to its most extreme degree is part of the reason why Day-Lewis is afforded such an infallible reputation within the acting world and is probably why so many of his performances were incredibly affecting and successful. Nevertheless, it does sound as if the actor was not the easiest person to be around during these periods of method acting.
In his final film role prior to retiring, Day-Lewis took on the role of an obsessive tailor in Phantom Thread. His performance alongside Vicky Krieps, who plays the waitress that Day-Lewis’ character falls in love with, earned him widespread acclaim and an Academy Award nomination. Again, the actor immersed himself in method acting in preparation for the performance, much to the annoyance of Krieps.
Speaking to The Telegraph in 2022, the Luxembourgish-German actor revealed she was unaware of Day-Lewis’ methods. “I never watch the films of people I’m going to work with, I don’t Google them,” she said, “So I didn’t know so much about [Day-Lewis’s] method acting”. Expectedly, the extreme nature of those methods came as something of a shock to Krieps, who became frustrated with the cast and crew of the film tiptoeing around the “great thespian”.
According to the actor, the crew would treat Day-Lewis with an attitude of “He’s here! My God! It’s him!” Which became increasingly grating over the course of filming. “I am a person who thinks we are all equal,” she shared, “We all sit on the toilet. I could see it all like a circus. I just didn’t get afraid”.
“After half the movie,” she continued, “I was just really tired of it. Like: OK, I get it. It’s a game. I’ve played it. But can we just talk normally now, please?” So, despite the apparently flawless legacy of Day-Lewis’ acting career, it seems as though he did very little to endear himself to his fellow thespians.
