I genuinely enjoy it when Time Magazine or Newsweek actually puts an actor or artist on their cover and it’s not some kind of special issue or “most creative people under the age of 30” listicle. Sometimes it’s worth it for a weekly news magazine to just do a straight profile of a truly exceptional talent, which is what this is. Timothee Chalamet is an Oscar-nominated actor and arguably a generational talent, an old-school movie idol. He’s going to have a huge fall, with The French Dispatch and Dune coming out this month, and Don’t Look Up coming out later this year. He’s also filming Wonka, and he’s wrapped on Bones & All. He’s not yet 26 years old. This Time Magazine profile is wonderful – light and simple, but newsworthy. Some highlights:
He’s still figuring out fame: He cites as role models Michael B. Jordan, Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence… If fame is surreal to him, he also doesn’t make a show of resisting it. “I’m figuring it out. On my worst days, I feel a tension in figuring it out. But on my best days, I feel like I’m growing right on time.”
The best advice he’s received: “One of my heroes—I can’t say who or he’d kick my ass—he put his arm around me the first night we met and gave me some advice. No hard drugs and no superhero movies.”
His late teens: He briefly attended Columbia, then NYU, but didn’t finish college, which he says seems “insane in retrospect.” He remembers the insecurity of those years, which he describes as “the soul-crushing anxiety of feeling like I had a lot to give without any platform.” But he waited for the kinds of jobs he wanted, trying to avoid getting locked into a commitment that might stifle his growth, like a years-long TV contract. “Not that those opportunities were coming at me plenty, because they weren’t. But I had a marathon mentality, which is hard when everything is instant gratification.”
On his Call Me by Your Name costar Armie Hammer: “I totally get why you’re asking that, but it’s a question worthy of a larger conversation, and I don’t want to give you a partial response.”
On Dune: “Dune was written 60 years ago, but its themes hold up today. A warning against the exploitation of the environment, a warning against colonialism, a warning against technology.”
On the delay in Dune’s release: “It’s so above my pay grade. Maybe I’m naive, but I trust the powers that be. I’m just grateful it’s coming out at all.”
What he stands for: “I feel like I’m here to show that to wear your heart on your sleeve is O.K.”
He’s not going to obsess about how he’s perceived: “To keep the ball rolling creatively takes a certain ignorance to the way you’re consumed,” he says. He calls it a “mirror vacuum”: the black hole you disappear into studying your own reflection.
On movie stardom: “I don’t want to say some vapid, self-effacing thing. It’s a combination of luck and getting good advice early in my career not to pigeonhole myself.” The term movie star, to him, is “like death.” All it does is make him think about ’90s-nostalgia Instagram feeds. “You’re just an actor,” Chalamet says, like a mantra. “You’re just an actor!”
It’s pretty clear that despite his protestations to the contrary, he is aware of how he’s perceived, and he is aware of the intense internet feelings about him, and the intense real-life feelings too. It seems like he’s trying to wear it lightly, correcting the record when he can, and just trying to shrug off the smaller stuff. Which is the way to handle it, and the way to take the long view. I’m dying to know who told him “no hard drugs and no superhero movies” though. It felt like the kind of advice Josh Brolin (his Dune costar) would have given him. Maybe a grizzled George Clooney said it? Those are my guesses. I doubt Jason Momoa or Robert Pattinson feel that way.
Cover & IG courtesy of Time Magazine.
Very interesting advice about superhero movies in an era when ever possible actor appears in them. I’m happy he’s not going in that direction. Wish him all success
It seems very logical for me to concur 🙂
Yeah, that sounds like an old guy’s advice. Clooney was a Batman, so probably not him either.
That sounds like Mr. Bill Murray.
I think Leonardo DiCaprio gave him that advice. He’s never ever been in a superhero movie.
I could see this.
Totally Leo D. He says “the night we met” meaning more likely at a party not work situation. And Timmy hangs out with Leo’s young girlfriend.
Leo has never done the superhero thing and gave the same advice about hard drugs to Zack Efron (don’t know if he listened though).
if that is true, I hope he won’t follow Leo in his footsteps of dating the same girls he dates now 20 years later. Overall, I hope he avoids Leo’s bluntness and lack of character. at this stage he seems like a sensible young man, he should cherish that.
By the way, I live in Europe and Dune came out here already, Timmy is great in it.
Definitely Leo. I remember when Zac Efron was on the cusp, he did an interview for Rolling Stone magazine and said that Leo gave him the no hard drugs advice. Zac could have had it all but, sadly, I don’t think he followed the advice.
Agree. I think it was Leo. He would completely understand what this young man is facing since he did the very same at his age.
That was my guess too
my first thought as well
It is one million percent Leo and I bet it’s because he saw his buddy Tobey McGuire suffer after doing Spiderman. I don’t think the advice is valid for all “serious” actors but I do respect why Leo would hold this perspective
This was my first thought because I feel like Timmy is taking the same career path as a young Leo did – lots of deep, complex films, varying genres but nothing really frivolous. I can see Leo being his idol too. They have the same deep heartthrob aesthetic.
No superhero movies but he’s doing Willy Wonka?! 🙂
Don’t get me wrong I love Roald Dahl but it’s just as silly as a superhero movie.
Nonsense. Wonka is literature, even if it is for children. Superheroes are comic book pap.
Way to dismiss comic books as beneath literary value. Why not be open-minded?
Comics and graphic novels are forms of literature too. Art Spiegelman is a huge name in the comic world and won a Pulitzer for his graphic novel. It’s not all superhero’s.
No superhero movies but fine with remakes of other movies, okay. I’m so sick of actors who act like they are so above these movies.
At least people go and see these movies. Nice of him to say this when Zendaya is one of his costars.
Some people go and see this movies. What is sad about superhero movie era is that they are made for a certain type of audience. And that’s fine. But almost nothing else is being made or is just not getting attention, finance to be made. Me and my girlfriends haven’t gone to see a movie in a decade. And I miss that. It’s just nothing for me to see.
I like Timmy, he was superb in Call Me By Your Name. Leo can date as many young women as he wants as far as I’m concerned. He’s not coercing them and they know what the deal is and it’s unlikely to be marriage. Have at it.
And I don’t agree at all that one can’t go to the cinema because there’s nothing but superhero films. There are simply loads of non-superhero movies released every year. I like quite a lot of superhero films. But – at least pre lockdown – I went to a couple of dozen movies plus each year that weren’t Marvel or DC. Drama, thriller, horror, documentaries, comedy, sci fi, independent foreign films…so much non-superhero stuff.
My guess is the no superhero movies advice was more about not getting screwed over by a studio and to not get stuck with a deal where you are basically coming back repeatedly to film as part of a multi-film project which boxes you out of other projects.
When you think about some superhero acting greats, RDJ and Tom Hiddleston, and Elisabeth Olson (at least in my opinion) are probably the best out of the entirety of the Marvel Universe, followed by Chadwick B. and Tom Holland, followed by Chris H and Chris E and ScarJo. That is not to say others aren’t great on other projects, just that there really aren’t great acting moments in these projects. I don’t really think anyone else stands out as particularly great in the DC Universe other than Gal Gadot in the first Wonder Woman movie.
The time they spend doing these movies (which are interconnected with multiple productions) means less time spent establishing acting cache on other projects. Also, I mean we all saw what Disney did to Scar Jo, and we’ve heard the horror stories from Directors on other films, including Gal Gadot’s experience. It isn’t a stretch to me to think the advice was less about snobbery of craft, and more about just avoiding a project that was a pitfall for someone else.
@superashes that was my take on the advice as well. Less “superhero movies aren’t real movies” and more “don’t sign a contract that’s going to make you do 5 extremely physical movies with extensive global promotions around each one for the next 10 years, you won’t be able to do anything else.”
And you do have a point about the environment around these movies, they’re likely more toxic than we realize even at this point and for a young actor with no influence or power, it could be awful.
Isn’t his character in Dune a superhero? Not a Marvel or DC superhero but.., I figure if Oscar winners like Cate Blanchett are not too good for a superhero movie then why would Timothee be too good for one.
Josh Brolin is Thanos; it wasn’t Josh Brolin.
He’s also Cable, so it absolutely wasn’t him.
I’m going with Leo, like Miss Margo and Gobo above. He seems like the type to look down on the big budget superhero cottage industry that has developed in Hollywood in the last decade and a half.
He said he got the advice early in his career. He has been around quite a while so someone like John Lithgow, Mandy Patinkin, Matthew McConaughey, Damian Lewis, all People he worked with when he was younger. He used “he” so that leaves out the actresses
I think its less about looking down on superhero movies and more about not getting sucked into the superhero vortex. Chris Hemsworth IS Thor now. How many movies has he done as Thor? 5? 6? More? Is he going to have a successful career post-Thor?
It doesn’t matter, he’s set in movie history and he’s set financially, but if you are someone who wants a variety of roles and wants to play a variety of characters, superhero movies are probably not the way to go, especially as you are just getting your career started.
@Lightpurple and @Becks1: I get where you’re coming from – especially your point about avoiding immediate association, Becks – but I’m taking the two bits of advice together.
Out of everyone mentioned so far I believe Leo’s the one holding, not John, Mandy, or Damian. I could see McConaughey, I guess – my uncle actually used to sell him pot a million years ago, along with Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson – but it just feels a little more Leo with his Dude bros off the coast of France to me.
It could be someone who was in a superhero movie but regrets it.
No hard drugs and no superhero movie comes from Leo 100%
So why didnt Leo give his BFF Tobey Maguire the same advice lol
Leo is old now lol and probably gave this advice to a “protege” from a younger generation . Leo is with the scorcese clique for sure, so no theme park movies advice only lol
His BFF is probably the reason why he is giving that advice now.
Of all the people Hollywood could fawn over, they choose this bland little mediocre white boy. I’ll never understand it. He’s nothing special. It’s the same way I feel about Jennifer Lawrence and a few others.
And that Armie Hammer response is a total cop out. Useless.
It would be great if we could stop using race in a derogatory way. “White boy”? Really. How is this still acceptable?
You are aware non white people have been called way worser things you sound like so offended over something so small, yeah he is a white man and yeah he is mediocre she is just stating the obvious, specially because for what? why no young talented actor of color has been fawn over as much ever, just another White man with privilege and advantages who stands with other abusive white men.
I thought it was a pretty diplomatic response myself. Imagine how much better off the world would be if people didn’t speak unless they could give a complete, thoughtful answer.
And yes, if someone made the same comment about how “he’s just a Black man” or “he’s just an Asian man” who is “useless” people would rightfully hit the ceiling.
No one called him useless just mediocre, but if his capping for abusive white men just because that white man happens to be his friend than he is useless, just like any man or woman regardless of race when they speak to defend or don’t speak up against an abuser because they are friends.
@M, Only a forensic psychologist should be speaking on Hammer’s behavior. Who else could possibly unravel that psychotic mess?
Eh, if someone calls me at work to ask about an abusive co-workers I worked with on a project years ago, before I heard any reports about their abuse, I’m not going to have anything to say. What response would even satisfy you on those facts?
Fallout for Armie Hammer should land on Armie Hammer and all his asshole enablers. Not some dude that worked with him a few years ago. His response ain’t caping in any event.
I agree, but I also get why people are curious. Half the promo for CMBYN was based on “look Armie really has the hots for Timmy, he and his wife totally swing with him”. It was for show, some extra queerbait and baiting the straight fangirls too, but they both played along so I understand why people are wondering what his relationship with Armie is now.
I don’t think he’s bland. He’s kinda weird-looking actually. His proportions are strange. The blands would be all the Chrises.
He DOES get outsized attention, but at least he’s made films like “CMBYN” which indicate something interesting about him as an individual. Also not very Chris-like.
I like him but I agree with you that he’s over-hyped (although I think back in her heyday Jennifer Lawrence’s case was even worse). I think’s he’s a good actor, but nothing mindblowing. I’m also somewhat sick of actors being praised for basically doing their job the way they should. Imagine that same level of worship for a good teacher or a good doctor. Nobody cares, they expect you to do a good job. However, the Hammer response was appropriate. What else is he gonna say? If he says “awful dude, glad I never have to see him again” he’d get hate for basically biting the hand that fed him fame and celebrity, which is that film. They’d call him ungrateful and butting in where he has no place. Then again if he says “my poor colleague, hope he’s doing ok” everyone would hate him for supporting a sexual predator. So the best response is “no comment” in my opinion. Like others have said, if someone asked me about the personal sheit a colleague from work had done I wouldn’t want to comment on it either.
Just like his hero Leo, Timmy is dating women his age right now but will start dating early 20-something models as soon as he hits 30.
That’s a whole lot of projections, wow. I didn’t realize Leo was his hero.
He said “one of my heroes” gave him that advice and pretty much everyone up thread thinks it’s Leo which he also referenced in the article as one of his ‘role models’.
Also that just seems to be a very common trajectory with Hollywood men (see also Jake Gyllenhal).
Do you think he is straight? 👀
Right–I don’t see him as a serial female model dater.
I guess he received the advice after he auditioned for the Spiderman movie. I like the way he handled his career and his fame so far. Wish him the best.
At this point in time, so many artistically minded and successful actors have done a turn at Marvel that a superhero role no longer feels like the “putting baby in the corner” career move it used to be.
Can’t wait for Dune! Read the book. Loved the original movie, but I’m interested in the updated adaptation and TC fits the role well. No one can balance a pretty face and hot bod line Kyle Maclachlan but I’m super open to Timothy’s version of the role.
How is Dune not a superhero movie? His character literally turns superhuman. (It’s also a white male savior movie if you want to go there.)
Lol Dune is neither a superhero movie nor is it a story about a white savior, and if you think that, you clearly have no idea/totally misunderstood what Frank Herbert wanted to tell.
I agree, it is. It’s a franchise just like Star Wars or LOTR or GOT. I also don’t see much of a difference between that and Avengers, but ok.
Maybe Larry David gave him that safe advice? Regarding these words – “mirror vacuum: the black hole you disappear into studying your own reflection”, will someone PLEASE tell the Kardashian/Jenner clan about this, because they need it desperately.
Yes to George Clooney, who famously had a disastrous turn as an early Batman. It put a stop to Batman movies for a long time and George used to joke that he single-handedly killed the franchise. And there’s a difference between a comic book superhero and a heroic character. Paul Atrides from Dune is the latter.
What a complete non response to the Armie Hammer question. Not impressed.
I thought it was a great response – respectful to the victims acknowledging it was a larger conversation and graceful in that he didn’t say hey how was I to know he was a fucking animal?
It isn’t like Polanski where we’ve known for decades and people still worked with him .
These celebrity interviews are really hard, because outlets will take the tiniest morsel of anything that in the context of the interview made sense and blow it up out of context. It’s really frustrating–I remember Elizabeth McGovern said in a wide ranging interview that season 2 of Downtown Abbey was her favorite and that got blown up to “McGovern hates on current season” and she eventually ended up apologizing and saying she loved them all etc.
If T-Cham had said anything, anything about Armie, anything about the situation, the interview would have been a pr disaster for him. He and his team no doubt had to prepare a response in advance that could not get twisted.
It sucks that famous people get out of context quoted to get clicks, but it’s real, and actors have to protect themselves.
I wonder what the actual question was. I don’t think he could have known Archie Hammer was a weirdo. Was the question about whether he thinks Hammer is guilty? Or was the question about the victims themselves? I think the phrasing of the question might have dictated his response.
I wouldn’t know what to say either, other than I think Archie Hammer is guilty (is that type of response allowed if the charge hasn’t gone to trial yet?) but I have no idea if the question asked was in that area of concern.
Honestly, what actual response was he supposed to give regarding Armie Hammer?? Let’s be real here. All people want to gather, is if Timothee had some some knowledge that Armie was a serial rapist/BDSM abuser??? Correct? I 100% doubt that he did, and I think his answer was completely appropriate. He knew him on the basis of working with him for the first time in the movie, Call me by your Name. It certainly was not the case, such as working with, Woody Allen. A director with a known history of accusations for molesting his daughter, that many in Hollywood ignore, simply for the chance to work with Allen. Timothee worked with Armie once on that movie, BEFORE Armie’s sexual accusations all came to light. That’s it. I don’t see anything appropriate about asking him about it. His answer was perfect IMO, especially with respect to Armies’ victims.
I don’t think the superhero thing was intended as a shot at actors who play superheroes. More of advice to avoid being typecast or maybe a suggestion that the superhero genre is over saturated. Playing a superhero lends itself so easily to comparison with other superhero performances and it’s easier to be seen as lacking in performance when maybe the writing or directing just sucks or people are just tired of superhero remakes.
I don’t think he’s a bad guy or anything, but man he is an example of how the media treats women and men dramatically different in Hollywood. A woman (or a person of color) would get raked over the coals for the cop out in regards to Armie.
Around the time Ladybird, Call me By Your Name (they were released around the same time) and him blew up, Greta Gerwig was raked over the coals for working with Woody Allen; he got a complete pass when it came out he signed up for a Woody Allen film during awards season. Not to mention he was fresh off an Oscar nomination, so it’s doubtful he was pressured by his agents or desperate for work (Ellliot Page described feeling pressured by her talent agency to work for Woody, which isn’t an excuse but does explain in some ways how so many stars worked with him).
That said, I still enjoy his work and am looking forward to his future projects.
The thing with Armie Hammer to me is…he was boring and seemingly normal and then he completely torched his career in a short period of time. Which was *after* Timothee worked with him right? All this comparison to Polanski and Woody Allen isn’t quite the same…we all know these guys were awful, and then people continued to work with them.
I don’t know enough about timothee working with different people, but on Armie I don’t think he should be required to have an answer.
Yeah I agree Abby. I thought of Kayne West and Marilyn Manson/ Brian Warner as a comparison as well. Like Kayne choose to endorse and elevate him after it was publicly reported that he’s a serial abuser with ties to sex trafficking.
I think Timothee acknowledged the situation instead of dismissing it. And I’d rather someone admit they aren’t ready to speak on a co-workers abusive behaviour than minimise it with a trite comment. To the best of my knowledge it came after after they’d work together.
I can understand why actors are asked these questions. But they don’t cast people and they have less control then we believe (unless they’re super successful). I’d be interested in a directors, producers or film company’s comment on hiring a known abuser.
Josh Brolin was Thanos and starred in Deadpool 2. So if it were him, maybe he was saying from experience? But he’s not my first bet.
I get kinda tired of the bashing of superhero movies. No, they’re not high art, and not all of them are exactly inspired, but 50 years from now they will be looked at as classic as the tons monster movies the greats like Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee made in the 50s-70s. I mean, Ian McKellan was in Lord of the Rings and X-Men for goodness sake. Fine if that’s not the trajectory an actor wants to take, but there’s nothing wrong with being in these movies. There are great, great actors in these films that will undoubtedly be iconic for the next generation of moviegoers.
and some of us are tired of superhero movies
His hair is insane. I’d like to touch his hair for an hour.
I hope he keeps wearing his heart on his sleeves and also protects himself, and doesn’t get exploited and manipulated like a lot of good-hearted people do.
I don’t get the hype on him but I think the only movie I’ve seen him in was Little Women – for all the advice about superhero movies, his other choices haven’t driven me to the theaters to see him. (Though I did read Call Me By Your Name after hearing they were making it into a movie, and the book was great! So great that I ended up not seeing the movie because I didn’t want it to spoil my memories of the story.)
The movie is great and he is fantastic in it. You should watch it. I love the novel, but I think the movie is superior in some aspects.
I love him so. His talent! His persona! His fashion! His humanity! Okay just threw that last one in but he does seem like a mensch! oh and he’s hot af for all the aforementioned.
He was so good in Call Me By Your Name. He is very talented and I really think he has a long career ahead of him. I’ve also heard he is super nice and very down to earth. I don’t think we’ll hear anything bad about him…at least I hope not.
I liked him in Lady Bird and Little Women, but he does come across as a bit supercilious in interviews. He should work on that. He’s got real potential as a celebrity, I love the way he dresses up for red carpets, but no one would mind his “no superhero movies” statements if it wasn’t for that air of being slightly above it all. And yeah, that’s partly a function of his age, but I wish he’d get it together, we need some new young movie stars.
Well to be fair, he said SOMEONE ELSE gave him advice about no superhero movies. He didn’t come right out and say he agreed with it or not.
He comes across as a f*ckboi. He took his media training too seriously and hasn’t yet figured out how to be more natural in his interviews.
Totally! F$ckboi fer sure. There were some not so nice rumors about him at NYU. Apparently boy got around.
He’s technically handsome, but very young-looking. I wonder what he’ll look like at 30. His build is so wispy in a white shirt.
Meh, I disagree on him being this amazing talent. Dune is already out in Europe and I’ve already seen it – he is by far the weakest link in this film, and he is the central character.
He is very talented, but I honestly wasn’t blown away by him in Ladybird, The King or Little Women, which are the three films of his I have seen. I thought Christian Bale was a much better Laurie in the 90s version of Little Women. Timothy’s style is a bit too low-key for me, or something.
I wish him every success, of course. As to the super hero movie comment? I am frankly sick of all the Marvel movies and others in the genre that keeping getting churned out year after year. There is a place for them, sure, and a lot of very talented actors have appeared in them (Robert Downey Junior is amazing), but they’re saturating the market and they DO tend to pigeonhole some of the people who take on roles in them. It’s not for him, that’s fair enough.
I like the guy, he’s talented but also seems super down to earth. I’ve seen Dune a few times already (I’m a big fan of the novel/s!!!!) and I think that he is the perfect Paul Atreides, I thought he was gonna be swallowed by all the other stars, playing way more charismatic characters, but he (and Rebecca Ferguson) were the highlights for me.
Playing a superhero is really really rough on one’s body – imagine being contractually obliged to eat like twelve eggs a day 🤢
The advice he was given is bad and antiquated so I think the person who gave it to him is emotionally stunted in the time when that advice was true… late nineties and early naughties.
In this day and age, TV is rich in stories and more interesting than film. For an actor, it’s an opportunity to explore a character far more deeply than film. It’s a great learning ground to hone craft, and keeps actors busy rather than sitting at home waiting for elusive ‘quality’ non superhero film projects, or having to resort to watch/cologne commercials and small parts in superhero movies (because they initially refused the big parts).
Would you want to be Leo who does no TV or
superhero movies but is barely an actor? Or be a working actor that tries everything and keeps getting better?
It is actually very good advice for someone at their level. Leo saw what it did to Tobey’s career (which wasn’t his own) and never went that way himself. He could do that because he held out and got ‘serious actor’s’ roles. Ryan gosling is a good example of another actor who never did.
Superhero movie fans are so touchy. People are allowed to think your movies are garbage. Be adult enough to accept that.
Likewise, fans of super hero movies (and the rich history of comics behind them), are allowed to think bias against the genre is garbage and are allowed to express that opinion. People are so touchy when they push an opinion and get pushback in return! They should be adult enough to accept that and not get defensive when it happens.
What I appreciate about Timothy is his ability to handle comedy via his SNL appearances. He’s underrated at that.
Of course he is not obsessed about how he’s perceived, I mean, Harry Potter fans cast him as Regulus Black and he showed up at an interview wearing a Slytherin sweater COINCIDENTALLY, ok? He is so not giving people what they want.
Now being serious, I don’t know why lately I’ve been getting douche vibes from him, hopefully I’m wrong.
Nothing worse than an attention wh*re that pretends he’s not an attention wh*re. Can’t stand him. He’s faker than a three dollar bill.
It saddens me to think about all the non-white actors out there sweating their @ss and getting nothing, while this dude thinks he’s hot sh!t for being Willy Wonka for Netflix.
I’m so glad to see I’m not the only not drinking the Hollywood KoolAid! The celebitchy comment section rarely fails. I love y’all!
Chalamet is just a mildly talented twink. He’s overhyped and overrated. He lied when he claimed his contract forbid him to speak ill of Woody Allen, just so that he didn’t have to comment on Allen’s image. Greta Gerwig got flack and he got none. Timothee Chalamet is 110% a fake.
He’s just another Tumblr fave that’ll go away in a few years, though for some reason I can’t quite see him “surviving” the internet boyfriend phase like Hiddleston and Cumberbatch did. We’ll see…
I really cannot get into him, there’s something about him that’s off-putting to me. He seems carefully managed and says a lot of the right things but….yeah I just don’t think I like him. He seems like he could creep into douche territory very easily, like a little Johnny Depp in the making.
Doubt it was Leo. He said they could kick his butt for saying. Even in jest. I don’t think anyone applies a butt-kicking with Leo. I have an idea based on past pictures and things he has said.