Daniel Day-Lewis Responds to Brian Cox's Criticism of Method Acting

As of November 4th, 2025, veteran actor Daniel Day-Lewis has fired back at Brian Cox after the "Succession" star's vocal criticism of method acting. In an interview last month, Day-Lewis addressed Cox's heated stance on the acting technique, admitting he was a bit caught off guard by his fellow actor's comments.

"Listen, I worked with Brian Cox once and got somehow drawn into this handbags-at-dawn conflict inadvertently," Day-Lewis said. He went on to praise Cox as "a very fine actor who's done extraordinary work," but noted that Cox has been given a "soapbox" to voice his opinions on method acting, which he shows no signs of stepping down from.

Cox first made his criticism of method acting back in 2021 when discussing his co-star Jeremy Strong's approach to playing Kendall Roy on the HBO drama. Cox called Strong's performance a product of Day-Lewis' famed method acting, which he described as a uniquely "American disease." The veteran actor doubled down on his claims earlier this year, saying Strong's method is "f-ing annoying."

Strong has since responded, saying that Cox has "earned the right to say whatever the f-k he wants" about the acting process. As for Day-Lewis, he says he doesn't feel responsible for Cox's issues with method acting, and that he doesn't know how Strong goes about his craft, but that he is "a very fine actor."