TIMOTHEE CHALAMET

TIMOTHEE

CHALAMET

“It seems like nothing can stop him”

He is 25 years old. He is a FrenchAmerican actor. His big break was in the film Call Me by Your Name alongside Armie Hammer, for which he was even nominated for an Oscar in the best actor category. Timothee Chalamet has since forged his own path. His latest film, Denis Villeneuve’s Dune, is a global hit. At the same time, the talented actor has become an iconic figure in women’s magazines. Any public appearance is immediately seized on by social networks and commented, analysed, deconstructed and, ultimately, praised in the fashion columns, which love his audacity, his androgynous look and his eccentrically structured ensembles. In 2019, Vogue magazine was already calling him “the most influential man in fashion”. And a few weeks ago, the superstar featured on the cover of Time magazine. In short, this young man is everywhere and it seems like nothing can stop him! We met with this hyper-talented man who has already been dubbed the DiCaprio to the power 10!

Interview conducted in Los Angeles by Frank Rousseau, our USA correspondent

Let’s clarify something

first, if you don’t mind. Should we call you Timmy? Tim? Timothee? Chala?

Timmy! Or there was also Timmy T or Little Timmy Tim when I was rapping! I recently learned that fans in China call me Sweet Tea. In the street not long ago someone called out “Hi Elio” because of my character in Call Me by Your Name! So all options are possible!

The role of Paul Atreides was previously played by Kyle Maclachlan, an iconic actor who, in 1984, portrayed the character inspired by Frank Herbert’s novel Dune, published in the 1960s! Now you are taking on this mythical role under the guidance of Canadian director Denis Villeneuve. When you found out you were going to be in this remake, did you watch or re-watch the David Lynch film or did you try to “create” this hero form scratch?

I have immense respect for Kyle’s performance and I love the David Lynch version, which I discovered about two months before we began shooting. I’ve also been lucky enough in the past to work on other films that have had earlier versions with other great actors. Actors I admire to this day. But when Denis Villeneuve asks you to make a film and he tells you about HIS vision, you forget about everything that has been done before! So I approached the role with a great deal of humility but feeling a certain amount of pressure!

What about Frank Herbert’s book?

I only started reading after I signed with Denis Villeneuve, and then I dived straight into the adventure. I’ve always been a fan of science fiction. But science fiction in cinema means special effects, green screen and so on. What’s incredible about this blockbuster is that Denis only had me shoot two scenes using those techniques. The beauty of this Dune is that we were surrounded by immense landscapes that helped us to believe we really were in the desert on planet Arrakis...

Are you aware that Dune will have a huge impact on your career?

I had never been part of such a big production previously in my career and to be chosen by Denis Villeneuve to be part of this is without a doubt a huge honour! The other honour was being able to work for five months with actors I had already admired in other films. We had such good a relationship that I am proud to call them my sisters and brothers today. I hope we can do a second one (Dune), that would be a dream and yes, in a way I’m just grateful to have had this incredible experience. As Josh Brolin put it so well: “There are three versions of a film. There’s the version you read when you’re given a script. There’s the film you make and then there’s the film you discover once it’s been edited. I hope people will go and see it. I myself am already delighted. It’s a dream come true.

Is it true that you did everything you could to get THE role?

Yep! I admit that I set up Google alerts on my phone configured with the word “Dune”. So much so that every time a website or a media outlet mentioned something about Denis (Villeneuve) and this project, I received a notification! As soon as I heard he was confirmed as the director, I rushed out to buy Frank Herbert’s novel. After that, my sole aim was to meet Denis and make him understand that I was up for the role. For the record, I was in London when Denis contacted me. I was in the middle of preparing The King. Denis was on the Cannes Festival jury. We were not that far away from each other. When he said, “Come and see me”, I didn’t think twice! The problem was that I hadn’t finished reading the book. So I read the second half at breakneck speed!

Dune sees the House of Atreides agreeing to rule the planet Arrakis, the production hub of spice, a substance that allows interstellar travel but also makes it possible to live longer. Young Paul Atreides is an idealist, a born leader who fights for a cause he believes in. What causes do you like fighting for, Timothy?

Paul is a young man on a journey that is far greater than he can comprehend. He’s welcomed like a messiah on the desert planet Arrakis! What do I fight for? For justice. Be it racial, environmental or economic. These are important issues that resonate with the condition every human being finds themselves in today, especially with the Covid-19 pandemic that has impacted our lives. That is what our generation must fight for! I have great admiration for Greta Thunberg because she says things in a very straightforward way. Her courage and determination are amazing! I also remember the poem read by Amanda Gorman at the inauguration of US President Joe Biden. It reassures me to know that young people of this calibre want to change the world and shatter certain outdated viewpoints It restores my faith in humanity.

Isn’t there a contradiction playing action heroes when you have the looks of a romantic lead? I don’t see you as the ‘sporty’ type...

You remind me of my father when you say that, Frank! But yes, you’re right, sport is a very serious thing. That said, on the set of Dune I was lucky enough to play basketball with Oscar Isaac! Now, it’s important to understand this. Sometimes my job, and I don’t mean this in a derogatory way, is a bit like a that of a labourer. In the sense that you work at an intense pace. You wake up very early every day. Typically, your day is 12 hours almost non-stop. With a 30 minute break. You go home exhausted every evening. Then you do it all again the next day. Going back to Dune, seeing Denis Villeneuve work was a real inspiration. He’s at the forefront of everything he does. Since I’ve been doing this job, I’ve had the chance to learn and above all to experience new things.

Paul’s upbringing had a huge influence on his perception of the world around him. Like the hero of Dune, don’t you feel like you’ve grown up too quickly sometimes?

My grandmother always tells me “You should go out more with people your own age and go on holiday with them!” I was lucky enough to grow up in New York, a city with fewer “temptations” than Los Angeles. Los Angeles is a huge open-air studio where people dream of making movies or singing. In other words, performing. I am very grateful to my parents, especially my father who is French. He was a journalist. In a way, it was him who allowed me to have a good understanding of American culture. So I see the United States through the eyes of a Frenchman and France through the eyes of an American! Having this dual perspective, sometimes diametrically opposed, is a blessing. The fact that I have dual nationality has created a kind of ambiguity within my identity. Having a broader, more open understanding of the world has made me less egotistical. When I was younger, my father listened to Jacques Brel and Edith Piaf at home while my mother preferred American musicals like Fiddler on the Roof. Although I was a hip hop fan myself! (laughs)

People have called you “the next big thing” in Hollywood, one of the most promising actors of your generation, a future DiCaprio to the power of a thousand in terms of talent and potential, and so on. You’ve been doing interviews, walking miles of red carpets, winning awards, trophies, prizes, and touring all over the world. Are you going to suffer from burn-out?

I really like this question too, because I think I’m one of those people who finds it hard to take time off, and that doesn’t mean I want to work all the time. Denzel Washington once said: “My big fear is that people will see too much of my face and get bored!” I’m on the same wavelength. That said, I’m not going to deny myself. I’m having a blast in my work and I’m making the most of it because I feel like I’m living a daydream. I know that in Hollywood there are plenty of stories of young actors who achieved success at an early age and didn’t know how to handle it. But I can assure you, I am a strong character and I have no desire to be part of that sorry story.

In short, it would be a big lie to tell you that I don’t enjoy being recognised! Above all, it would totally contradict the reasons why I do this job: to perform in front of an audience and therefore, ultimately, to be appreciated for my performance as an actor. The actor who swears to you that he doesn’t enjoy being in contact with people or receiving accolades, prizes, awards, etc., is not an actor in my opinion. This job only has meaning or relevance if you are able to touch the hearts and souls of the people who come to see you in the cinema or the theatre. I’m an actor because I want to be able to take people out of their daily lives. My job is to transport them to a different place.

How do you stay grounded?

You have to stay connected with friends and family. That goes without saying. Then, you have to know how to distinguish between those people who praise you all day long to get something out of it and those whose only aim is to help you progress. It’s not always easy to make the distinction, but with time and experience, you get there... After playing the vice-president’s son in Homeland and Matthew McConaughey’s son in Interstellar, I realised that things were starting to happen for me. The phone started ringing, my inbox began to fill up. I boarded this train and now I hope it doesn’t run off the rails!

You know, I’m someone who has always been in an artistic environment. My grandfather, Rodman Flender, was a well-known television director and writer. One of his books is called Rescue In Denmark, which takes place during the Holocaust in the Second World War. He also wrote Paris Blues, which was adapted into a 1961 film starring Paul Newman.

My uncle, Robin Flender, is a director. My aunt, Amy Lippman, a scriptwriter. She has also produced series such as Masters of Sex and Party of Five.

The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree! I’ve been enchanted by showbiz and literature ever since I was born.

That’s all very well, but don’t you feel like you’ve missed out some steps?

That’s not a problem! I have always strived for my independence. When I was 10 years old, I used to take the metro alone. I remember when I was 16, I phoned my parents to tell them that I’d landed a major role in the series Homeland. The point I was trying to make was that they had to cut me some slack!

A year later, I was accepted at Columbia University and I wondered how I was going to combine university with cinema. The trickiest one was when I shot Interstellar with Matthew McConaughey in Canada. I really didn’t want to drag my parents there with me. I understand the purpose and importance of a “legal representative”, but I just wanted to be free from any parental authority! So I did some research online. And then I found a way out. Basically, there was a law that said if a film was produced by a Californiabased company and an actor had a high school diploma and was over 16, no one could do anything about it, not even their parents. So I jumped headfirst into that loophole!

Do you have to be crazy to be a good actor?

That’s a good question that deserves a proper answer. The answer is yes. We’re overly sensitive and thin-skinned. You can’t do this job if you haven’t analysed yourself. If only to try to understand who you really are. A role requires you to forget who you are. Sometimes you get so immersed that you forget who you are. We need some time to readjust. A bit like an astronaut who has spent too much time at zero gravity!

I suspect it was a dog-eat-dog world before you got to where you are now. Is that right?

Not really because I’m an animal lover, and that includes dogs! (laughs) I would say that that I’m making hay now that the sun’s shining – and that everything that’s happening now is the result of hard work. You know, I went to a school in New York called Fiorello H. Laguardia High School for Performing Art. You remember the Fame movie and the series in the 80s? Well, that school that was the inspiration. The series and the film were about young people fighting to be the best. I’ve been there. I’ve experienced that intense and daily competition. Success one day, frustration the next. The only difference was that I didn’t get up on the tables to dance and at the end of the day I went home to my mother!

You may be a gifted actor, but it can’t be easy to shoot love scenes with a man you didn’t know before?

For Call Me by Your Name, Luca, the director, got it right. He had asked Armie and me to hang out together before shooting. So six weeks before we started the film, we went out together. We talked a lot. We built up a connection. It meant that the scenes you refer to did not pose much of a problem. And you know, it’s not a big deal. Love scenes are very technical. You are asked to put your hands there, to make this or that expression and above all to believe in it a bit. A lot of people think I’m gay now because I was really natural. For me, that is the best compliment you can give me, it means that I was believable. The beauty of Call Me by Your Name is that it makes us understand that love is love, including between people of the same sex.

In Beautiful Boy, you played a very convincing teenage drug addict. Tell us how you approached this challenging role.

I didn’t get the part straight away. There was a lengthy audition process. For Beautiful Boy, I had to go back three or four times before I was allowed to read the script with Steve Carrell. The script was very powerful but I wanted to go further by doing some research on You Tube. I wanted to see how people with certain addictions changed physically and mentally over time.

Can you emerge unscathed from a role like that?

Yes! I know how to separate fiction from reality. In fact, I think the hardest part was not getting out of that role but getting into it! When I was offered the role of Nick, I had no pain or existential crisis in my past. I’m a son. I have parents. And I have a wonderful relationship with my parents. So putting myself in the vulnerable situation of a young man in conflict with others and with himself required a lot of preparation and concentration.