Daniel Day-Lewis fires back at Brian Cox over method acting feud

Daniel Day-Lewis isn’t having Brian Cox’s nonsense. Brian Cox recently took a break from barking at fictional children to lob another grenade at method acting, suggesting that Jeremy Strong’s intensity came straight from the House of Day-Lewis. The implication is that Daniel taught him how to suffer for art, or at least how to make your co-stars suffer in the process.

Inside the Brian Cox–Daniel Day-Lewis feud that’s split Hollywood on acting “truth"

Daniel Day-Lewis, emerged from his self-imposed silence. “I don’t know where the f--- that came from,” he snapped, denying he’d ever tutored Jeremy in the ways of character-possession. He’s irritated, not just at the gossip, but at how “method acting” has turned into a punchline for eccentricity.

What’s delicious here isn’t just the spat itself but what it reveals about acting’s generational identity crisis. The method used to mean something sacred — an actor’s devotion to emotional truth. It’s not the same anymore. Brian represents the old guard who thinks you don’t need to ruin dinner parties to play a role convincingly. Daniel, the misunderstood monk of transformation, sees his craft being mistaken for madness. And Jeremy is just the unlucky poster boy for a technique that’s now a meme.

The irony is, all three are right — and all three are exhausting. The fight isn’t really about acting; it’s about ownership of seriousness. Brian’s “just hit your mark and say the line” realism gave us Succession’s Logan Roy. Daniel’s “become the man” approach gave us There Will Be Blood. And Jeremy’s “bleed for the part” gave us Kendall Roy, a performance so tortured it makes therapy look like a spectator sport. 

So, who wins this round? Nobody. Except the audience, because nothing says “Oscar season warm-up” like a good old-fashioned actor brawl about how much pretending is too much pretending. And while these men debate how to “be real,” they’ve accidentally given us the most entertaining performance of the year.

For more updates, join/follow our WhatsApp, Telegram and YouTube channels.