These past two and a half years, Timothée Chalamet has created more buzz than actors who have been in the business for decades. It all started in 2017, with his Oscar-nominated role as Elio Perlman in Call Me by Your Name. He has been one of the most talked about people in Hollywood. His success is even being compared to that of a young Leonardo DiCaprio. His on-camera likable personality reflects his real life
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charm. He is extremely relatable and down to earth compared to other actors. He isn’t afraid to fanboy in the presence of his idol Kid Cudi or when the news first broke that The Office star Steve Carell would be playing his dad in Beautiful Boy. In his interviews, he gives such insightful and intelligent answers that this alone is a tell tale that he is so passionate and knowledgeable about what he does – this is what makes people so drawn to him.
Upbringing
The Hells Kitchen native was born to Marc Chalamet, an editor for UNICEF, and Nicole Flender, former Broadway dancer and real estate broker. Chalamet attended LaGuardia High School, a school for the performing arts, for four years. He finally had the creative outlet he longed for there. He was in the YoungArts program, which helps shape rising high school talent. After he graduated, he attended Columbia University for one year, majoring in cultural anthropology. He then transferred to New York University’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study to pursue his acting career, without the commitment of the traditional strict college schedule.
First Roles
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He acted in a couple of short films and a couple of TV series, but his first notable role was as Finn Walden in the 2012 drama tv series Homeland. In 2014, he played Cooper’s (Matthew McConaughey’s) son Tom in the sci-fi/drama film Interstellar. In 2016, he starred as Billy in Miss Stevens, an indie film about a high school English teacher who takes her three students to compete in a drama competition. This film grew some underground traction for his Death of a Salesman monologue. This scene alone displays the raw talent that Chalamet exudes. It shows how professional he is as an actor and how seriously he took his role at just the age of 19.
Breakout Role
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His breakout role was in Luca Guadinino’s film Call Me by Your Name. To say that this movie changed the world of film forever is an understatement. Call Me By Your Name made an immense cultural impact around the world. This film encapsulated such a telling, beautiful, and tragic love story about two men in Crema, Italy in the 80s due to its honest storytelling, along with the aesthetic nature with which it was filmed, and the incredible dialogue tied into the film as a whole. It explored their love so thoroughly, showing the first feelings you feel for someone, the relationship blossoming and flourishing, and the thing that everyone dreads and isn’t often shown – how that relationship ends. This role as Elio, alongside co-star Armie Hammer who played his love interest Oliver, received him critical acclaim and praise. Overall, he won 19 awards and was nominated for an Oscar, a Golden Globe, a Critics Choice, and a British Academy of Film and Television Arts award.
His career only skyrocketed from here. At the same time as Call Me by Your Name, he got praise for his supporting role as Kyle in Greta Gerwig’s comedy/drama masterpiece Lady Bird. He then portrayed Nicholas Sheff in Beautiful Boy, a promising young adult who seemed to have his life in order, only for it to be thrown upside down when he becomes addicted to meth. This also garnered him a nomination for a Golden Globe. Chalamet then drew some negative attention for a movie he starred in, A Rainy Day In New York, with Selena Gomez. The controversy drew from the fact that it was directed by Woody Allen. This movie got shelved and then dropped by Amazon Studios, due to Allen’s sexual assault allegations from 1992 and in the wake of the #MeToo movement. Chalamet donated the money he was paid for his role to the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network, Times Up, and the LGBT Center of New York.
Today
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In his most recent role, he starred as Hal, King Henry V in The King, which was released Nov. 1 to Netflix. With Chalamet’s middle name being Hal, it would’ve been hard to pass up such a role. His Agincourt speech is one of the best monologues Chalamet has done in his career so far, screaming such powerful and moving words to hundreds of his men right before battle. His upcoming roles include Theodore ‘Laurie’ Laurence in Greta Gerwig’s Little Women, Paul Atriedes in the sci-fi film Dune, and Zeffirelli in The French Dispatch, which is a comedy/drama film about journalists in France written and directed by Wes Anderson.
He is easily one of the best actors of our generation and is paving the way for many young actors to come. His future is only going to get brighter from here.
Sources: Interview
Images: IMDb
Featured Image: Olivia Weinzapfel
