Timothée Chalamet began his rise to stardom with the film “Call Me by Your Name,” earning him the title of the third youngest “Best Actor” nominee in the Oscars. Starting off his career, he fit perfectly into the artistic “soft boy” archetype, reflecting in his characters in films such as “Little Women.” Chalamet drew a level of fangirl attention akin to that of the Harry Styles on 2011 Tumblr. However, recent actions have left these fans wondering- Was he really the poetic boy they thought him to be?
In a recent interview with Matthew McConaughey, Chalamet made a controversial comment, saying, “I don’t want to be working in ballet or opera or things where it’s like, ‘Hey, keep this thing alive, even though no one cares about this anymore.” This comment stirred up a frenzy of offended fine arts lovers and left loyal fans feeling betrayed. People felt that he had crossed a line by taking a dig at ballet and opera.
This remark was especially surprising, as he has shared that he comes from a family of New York City Ballet dancers and fine arts enthusiasts. One could argue that while, yes, the comment was flippant and careless, he was merely making the accurate observation that these art forms struggle to stay relevant to the general public. With full context, it’s clear that he was expressing his concern that the same might soon be said about cinema.
Although this is what really caused a commotion, the whispers of Chalamet not being quite who people thought did not start here. In April of 2023, Chalamet began publicly dating Kylie Jenner. Jenner famously does not fit the description of someone who a thoughtful, bookish Tumblr boy would be seeing. This threw fans off as they tried to figure out what these two could possibly have in common.
All of this seems shocking to any parasocial fan who had a certain image of Chalamet in their head. However, looking back at early career interviews, none of this should come as a huge surprise. Making statements about his personal interests, such as rap college basketball, he has demonstrated his appreciation for things that don’t fit into the box that he has been put into.
On top of what he has expressed in interviews, this shift can also be noted in the type of character roles he has been taking as of late. Between “Dune” and “Marty Supreme,” Chalamet has reflected an effort to lean into more traditional leading-man roles.
Perhaps he has always been this type of person, which doesn’t inherently mean he was being disingenuous from the start. He may have been a timid new actor rising to immense stardom and trying really hard not to get cancelled immediately. Now that he is well-established, he feels free to be expressive in a more authentic way. Ultimately, though, fans need to embrace the duality of man and accept that humans are dynamic creatures. Instead of parasocial fans squeezing Chalamet into this specific archetype of man, they are now seeing him for what he is: Just a regular, human dude.