Recently, in a broadcast and audience conversation on Variety with Timothée Chalamet and Matthew McConaughey, who played father and son in “Interstellar,” fans picked out Chalamet’s undermining of certain art forms, specifically ballet and opera.
The comment stemmed from a part in the conversation when McConaughey brought up shortening attention spans, pointing out that stories are beginning to omit “act ones” due to audiences being bored with long story introductions.
However, Chalamet claimed movies like Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein,” with slower pacing, still drew in a large audience.
“It does take you waving a flag of ‘Hey, this is a serious movie,’” Chalamet said. “And some people want to be entertained quickly. I’m really right in the middle … ”
Chalamet reflected he admires and has been the type of person who has spoken about keeping movie theaters alive, but after this remark, he says his viral comment.
“I don’t wanna be working in ballet or opera,” Chalamet said. “Or, you know, things where it’s like, ‘Hey, keep this thing alive, even though it’s, like, nobody cares about this anymore.’”
After this comment, Chalamet made a joke about losing viewership money, which is perhaps why people are taking this as insensitive. The topic changes after this, McConaughey talking about the way Chalamet has branched out in his work, specifically about marketing “Marty Supreme.”
Since the comment was made, Chalamet has not come out to address it, but was shown laughing at a joke Conan O’Brien made about it during the Oscars ceremony.
“They’re just mad you left out jazz,” O’Brien said.
Chalamet’s first notable appearance in the industry was as a guest star on the 2009 episode “Pledge” of “Law and Order.” Since then, he’s become known for his roles as Elio in “Call Me By Your Name,” Laurie in “Little Women” and Paul Atriedes in the ongoing “Dune” franchise.
Notably, Chalamet’s mother, Nicole Flender-Chalamet, has a history in ballet from childhood. She’s been on Broadway, participating in shows like “Fiddler on the Roof,” and now works as a real estate salesperson in New York. Along with this, both Timothée Chalamet and his sister, Pauline Chalamet, are alumni of LaGuardia High School, a school focused on art education, including ballet and musical theater.
Even though Timothée Chalamet’s take on “dying” art forms was sparse, the community’s reaction hasn’t been quiet. Not only are social media users dissecting Chalamet’s comment and putting him on blast, but satirical videos about the situation have been made, and celebrities have begun speaking out. Actor Nathan Lane commented on Timothée Chalamet’s take in an appearance on "The View."
“It was … kaleidoscopic in its stupidity and sensitivity,” Lane said. “And yet, strangely telling of where we are in this country.” Lane goes on to joke about it, but alludes to the fact that the comment was unfunny and unnecessary.
Other celebrities seem to be put on the spot to comment on Timothée Chalamet’s remark. For example, ballet dancer Misty Copeland was pressed in a clip from Variety for a “message to (Timothée Chalamet).”
“(Timothée Chalamet) knows … He had the privilege of growing up and seeing (ballet) firsthand,” Copeland said. “To me it’s really about educating people about the importance of it in our society … it impacts so many other art forms.”
Singer-songwriter Josh Groban has a similar take to Copeland. As a supporter of arts education and a believer in art bringing people together, Groban said that Timothée Chalamet’s comment had an “accidental positive effect” when it comes to celebrating these genres of art.
“We need the humanities,” Groban said. “We need the arts to remind us who we are as human beings when everything is trying to tell us how different we are … We should support those arts.”
