Timothée Chalamet. It sounded like an exotic tea, perhaps, or an outlandish European streetwear brand. Back in 2019, I’d heard of the buzzy young actor, of course. He’d had a hell of a breakout year in 2017, starring in Luca Guadagnino’s gorgeous queer coming-of-age romance, “Call Me by Your Name,” and the much-lauded teen drama “Ladybird,” from Greta Gerwig.
I was intrigued by him, but slightly annoyed, too, in the way you can get about anything so unrelentingly omnipresent. Everyone was talking about Timothée. I realized as I walked into a screening of Gerwig’s “Little Women” in 2019 that I was about to finally experience for the first time the boy himself in all his wide-eyed moppet glory. After four decades of watching thousands of movies and admiring legions of legendary stars, how great could this kid be? Then I watched the movie.
Gazing at Timothée up there on the screen, all giant eyes and riotous curls, a hypnotic combo of aw-shucks sunniness and steely will, I felt the same rush as I did watching the (now-problematic) greats of my generation: the Smiths, the Pitts, the Depps, the DiCaprios. And over the past five years, he has made good on that tantalizing promise, unstoppable in unlocking each and every key movie-star must-have in his ascent to all-timer status. And he’s doing the one thing we need from movie stars right now: bringing joy to the people when we sure as hell need it the most.
The Taste Level
With hefty tax bills and overseas castles to finance, many stars are forced into Marvel servitude or grotesque direct-to-streaming action-comedies to stay solvent. But Timothée’s resumé inspires the rest of us to remain true to our heart’s goals as his resumé remains mostly unblemished. (Yes, he said he regretted working with Woody Allen and donated his fee to charity.) He favours indie darlings like Guadagnino (they re-teamed for the cannibal love story “Bones and All”), Wes Anderson (“The French Dispatch”) and David Michod (“The King”). Even his one-for-me-one-for-them blockbuster picks are chic: he starred as Paul Atreides in Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune” and “Dune: Part Two,” and played the oddball titular character in Disney’s “Wonka.”
The Style
Timothée takes sartorial risks as well. He is, frankly, a freak. He’s only 29 and several of his fits have already entered red-carpet lore, from the sparkly black harness to the crimson silk blouse.
His pointy little face and signature mane are so distinctive that he inspired a Timothée look-alike contest — which he then crashed, causing an outpouring of sheer elation across every possible social-media platform for 24 glorious hours.
His choice of companion? Also impeccable, favouring intriguing It Girls like Lourdes Leon and Lily-Rose Depp and reality-TV-staple-turned-millionaire-entrepreneur Kylie Jenner.
Recently, he’s been zoomermaxxing in complex layers of belts, parkas and purses that the average mind over 30 can’t even parse. One of the zaniest ensembles? An exact dupe of a 2003 Bob Dylan Sundance outfit, complete with tiny moustache. Yes, even a wispy li’l ’stache looks good on Timothée.
The Passion Project
That look was inspired by his stellar turn as Dylan in “A Complete Unknown.” Every A-lister needs an Oscar-bait passion project, and Timothée trained for years to approximate Dylan’s unique speaking and singing style. The craziest part? He actually pulls it off, for the most part. I found myself tearing up at multiple points during the film. The singing was wonderful, yes, but it was something more than that: as I sat there, weeping, I wasn’t crying just for the story, but for Timothée himself. I felt the ecstasy he felt portraying this artist. That’s the funny thing about movie stars: when they’re happy, we’re happy. It reminds us of that precious human fact: that others’ accomplishments can be just as moving as our own.
The joyfest continued on the “Complete Unknown” promo tour as Timothée has done absolutely everything possible to inspire the masses to see this movie. Unlike most stars on the Oscar campaign trail, his antics have come off as authentic, powered by genuine excitement and love for Dylan, his art, the world. For life.
In January, Timothée became the first non-professional musician in 30 years to do double duty as host and musical guest on “Saturday Night Live,” performing as Dylan — and killing it. He goofed around in interviews: pestering co-star Edward Norton, mocking his own “tiny limbs” with Brittany Broski. He went shopping for records with Narduwar, his beaming face spawning a meme that roared into circulation instantly. He provided flawless NFL commentary on ESPN, and interviewed Kendrick Lamar ahead of the rapper’s Super Bowl halftime show. He skipped the Critics Choice Awards in favour of attending the Tokyo premiere for “A Complete Unknown,” where he sported a giant stuffed-ape Baby Milo necklace and even blessed an unborn child.
He danced to “I Gotta Feeling” on Instagram Live and lip-synched Edith Piaf in Paris, for no reason at all. It didn’t feel forced. It didn’t feel fake. It just felt … like joy.
These are hard times for many of us, leaving us desperate for any escapism, for sweet seconds of beauty and wonder. And witnessing all that talent, all that love for art — so much zest for the moment?
You feel a little bit of joy, too.
