The actor Timothée Chalamet wouldn’t speak to for years: “What business do I have?”
It must be daunting entering the world of Hollywood as a newcomer, where the stars who have already established themselves circle above you like the popular clique in high school, always out of reach.
For many budding actors, it’s hard not to put these people on pedestals – after all, they’ve likely won prestigious awards and have worked with some of the biggest names in the business. Timothée Chalamet might now occupy this category – he is easily the biggest star of his generation – but he once found himself feeling unworthy to be in the presence of highly accomplished actors.
He made his acting debut with a role in Law and Order back in 2009, and unbeknownst to viewers at the time, the kid on screen would soon go on to lead some of the biggest films of the 2020s, like Dune and A Complete Unknown.
His first film role came in 2014, when he starred in Men, Women and Children. Although the movie wasn’t particularly well-received, his next role as young Tom in Interstellar allowed him to experience being in a huge and successful film, something he’d become no stranger to within a few years.
Chalamet’s career has only continued to get bigger and better as the years have gone on, with parts in everything from Lady Bird and Call Me By Your Name to Wonka and The French Dispatch. In the latter, he got the chance to work with an actor he’d always admired but had been too scared to ever talk to, even though they had close connections.
The actor appeared alongside Frances McDormand – known for her acclaimed performances in the likes of Fargo, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, and Nomadland – and it made him realise that he’d come a long way since he first entered the industry. Talking to GQ, Chalamet revealed, “We’d shared an agent. And it was no disrespect to me, but I hadn’t been in any movies yet. What business do I have talking to Frances McDormand?”
However, he soon found himself feeling more comfortable as an actor, no longer too scared to talk to those he’d previously seen as untouchable gods: “But now, and this is the gift of acting, I really feel myself coming into my own as a community of thespians, as opposed to actors. And man, that sounds pretentious, but I just mean it’s not about the fucked-up ladder of success and un-success, and being the guy or the girl, and then being off the list… That’s not what I’m talking about with her on set, that’s not what she’s espousing to me.”
Chalamet soon realised that McDormand isn’t this mythical being; she’s just a normal woman with a passion for acting and creating. Concluding, “She’s talking about a long career. She’s talking about marriage with a creative partner and consultant. So to be able to have conversations like that and then a storyline in the movie where they’re kind of on an equal field? Even if she’s an experienced, wise woman and he’s an idealistic, naive boy? That’s the exact relationship of exchange I want with my intergenerational peers.”
