The one movie scene Timothée Chalamet needs everyone to see
There’s no question that Timothée Chalamet is the single most exciting actor of his generation, given that he is simply unrivalled in his ambition to reach the very top.
With two Oscar nominations and many critical hits on his resume, Chalamet has already worked with such great directors as Luca Guadagnino, Greta Gerwig, Denis Villeneuve, Christopher Nolan, James Mangold, Wes Anderson, Adam McKay, and Josh Safdie, among others, with many more set to join his ever-expanding roster.
However, one of the few A-list filmmakers that Chalamet has yet to work with is Paul Thomas Anderson, who has essentially released nothing but instant classics since the debut of his first film, Hard Eight, in 1996, and the actor is one of his biggest admirers, noting to Backstage that PTA’s filmmaking techniques help get the best performances out of his actors.
“My favourite kind of acting scenes, or at least where I think people shine the brightest, are odes to Meisner technique scenes,” Chalamet said, “People are face-to-face, and it’s almost like a repetition exercise.”
A scene in particular that he admitted to being blown away takes place in The Master, Anderson’s transfixing psychological thriller about the relationship between a troubled war veteran played by Joaquin Phoenix, and an enigmatic cult leader played impeccably by Philip Seymour Hoffman, where an eight-minute scene that sees the two actors converse over the course of a single take stood out as an outstanding achievement in both filmmaking and performance.
“That feels like almost an ode to the Meisner technique in acting and reacting, the pinch and the ouch, not premeditating what you’re going to do,” Chalamet said.
He is not alone in his praise of the film, as The Master has only grown in its stature in the years since its release. While there was intense speculation regarding what the film was really about, as some suggested that Hoffman’s character was inspired by Scientology founder Ron Hubbard, the film still stands out as an intimate study about cult mentality and how vulnerable people are preyed upon with the promise of empathy.
While Chalamet and PTA are yet to collaborate, it seems that it’s only a matter of time before the two cross paths, with the latter continuing to be celebrated for the many different genres that he’s mastered. His most recent film, One Battle After Another, has become one of the biggest hits of his entire career, receiving unanimous praise for the incredible lead performance by Leonardo DiCaprio as the revolutionary Bob Ferguson, deeming it a frontrunner for the ‘Best Actor’ prize at the Academy Awards. Ironically, the biggest competitor that DiCaprio will face off with is Chalamet, who just turned in the best performance of his own career as the temperamental ping pong player Marty Mauser in the wild sports thriller Marty Supreme.
Perhaps the most exciting thing about Chalamet’s rise to prominence is that he has led more young people to show an interest in arthouse and classic cinema, which has in turn helped the business as a whole. While The Master was already hailed as a tour de force by critics and film pundits, it’s possible that Chalamet’s passionate affection will lead some of his biggest fans to check it out and take a greater interest in all of Anderson’s other projects moving forward.
