Timothée Hal Chalametnote (born December 27, 1995) is an American-French actor.
Chalamet was born in New York City to a French father and an American Jewish mother. His professional career began as a child with appearances in several commercials; as a teenager, he made his TV debut in an episode of Law & Order and had recurring roles on the cable dramas Royal Pains and Homeland.
In 2014, he held supporting roles in Jason Reitman's Men, Women & Children (which made for his film debut) and Christopher Nolan's Interstellar, portraying a younger version of Casey Affleck's character in the latter.
In 2017, he came to international attention with his lead role in Luca Guadagnino's Call Me by Your Name, for which he received mass acclaim and an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor, making him (22 at the time) the youngest nominee in that category since Mickey Rooney's nod for Babes in Arms at 19 in 1940. Another noted role of his that year was in Greta Gerwig's Lady Bird; he would later become a repeat collaborator and close friend with both Gerwig and Lady Bird star Saoirse Ronan.
Chalamet's stature as an actor largely elevated from there with continued starring roles, culminating in him becoming one of the foremost young actors of his generation, with many fans and critics alike calling him one of the biggest, best and most talented actors of his time, as well as a sex symbol and fashion icon. Among the covetous roles he has landed, he has played Paul Atreides in Denis Villeneuve's sprawling film adaptation of Dune and a young Willy Wonka in 2023's Wonka; he is also attached to play Bob Dylan in an upcoming James Mangold-directed biopic.
He speaks French fluently due to his upbringing. His sister, Pauline Chalamet, is also an actor.
Selected filmography:
- Royal Pains (2012) as Luke
- Homeland (2012) as Finn Walden
- Men, Women & Children (2014) as Danny Vance
- Interstellar (2014) as young Tom Cooper
- Love the Coopers (2015) as Charlie Cooper
- Call Me by Your Name (2017) as Elio Perlman
- Hot Summer Nights (2017) as Daniel Middleton
- Hostiles (2017) as Private Philippe Dejardin
- Lady Bird (2017) as Kyle Scheible
- Beautiful Boy (2018) as Nic Sheff
- The King (2019) as Henry V
- Little Women (2019) as Laurie Laurence
- A Rainy Day in New York (2019) as Gatsby Welles
- Dune as Paul Atreides/Muad'Dib
- Dune: Part One (2021)
- Dune: Part Two (2024)
- The French Dispatch (2021) as Zeffirelli
- Don't Look Up (2021) as Yule
- Bones & All (2022) as Lee
- Entergalactic (2022) as Jimmy (voice)
- Wonka (2023) as Willy Wonka
- A Complete Unknown (TBD) as Bob Dylan
Timothée Chalamet's works provide examples of the following tropes:
- Do Not Call Me "Paul": Has no problem with people pronouncing his name "Timothy," and doesn't mind "Timmy" but draws the line at "Tim."
- Dyeing for Your Art: Chalamet lost 18 pounds for the role of Nic Sheff in Beautiful Boy, dyed his hair red and lost weight for the role of Lee in Bones & All, and ate too much chocolate to the point of getting stomach cramps for the role of Willy Wonka in Wonka.
- He Also Did: Before fame as an actor, Chalamet ran a YouTube channel where he reviewed custom Xbox controllers. The 2023 Game Awards did a Call-Back to this by introducing him by his former YouTube username ModdedController360.
- Ink-Suit Actor: Jimmy from Entergalactic is basically an animated version of Chalamet with a buzzcut. Even their nicknames are one letter away from similarity (Jimmy/Timmy). In his initial sketches, Jimmy even had Chalamet's characteristic hairstyle.
- Star-Making Role: Elio in Call Me by Your Name. Prior to that, his filmography was mainly composed of minor roles. His Oscar-nominated turn as Elio catapulted him directly to fame, and he began booking high-profile projects with famous directors soon after.
- Those Two Actors: Played potential love interests to Saoirse Ronan's character in Lady Bird and Little Women, and appears with her (and a large ensemble cast) in The French Dispatch.
- What Could Have Been: Chalamet was among the final contenders to play Peter Parker in the Marvel Cinematic Universe before Tom Holland was cast. He noted that Leonardo DiCaprio discouraged him from joining the superhero genre back in 2018.
