Daniel Day-Lewis criticises Brian Cox for drawing him into “conflict” over method acting
Daniel Day-Lewis has hit out at Brian Cox for drawing him into what he sees as an unnecessary debate on method acting, calling it a “handbags at dawn conflict”.
As such, the Phantom Thread actor has now responded to what he views as Cox’s unfounded claims, saying, “Listen, I worked with Brian Cox once and got somehow drawn into this handbags-at-dawn conflict inadvertently.”
He added: “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.”
Given Cox had likened his former co-star Strong to Day-Lewis, especially in the context that the former had once worked as his assistant, the Scottish actor has persistently claimed that this became an influence on the Deliver Me From Nowhere star.
However, Day-Lewis has outright denied this allegation, responding: “If I thought during our work together I’d interfered with his [Strong’s] 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. 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 then went on to defend his preferred but controversial approach to method acting, noting how, “I can’t think of a single commentator who’s gobbed off about the method that has any understanding of how it works and the intention behind it.”
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