Remembering Timotheé Chalamet’s brief and awful rap career
The sudden career success of American actor Timotheé Chalamet has been something of an industry marvel, with the performer making his way to mainstream popularity from relative obscurity. Since his early foray into TV in the late 2000s, appearing beside Claire Danes and Damian Lewis in Homeland, among other shows, the young actor has had the chance to collaborate with the likes of Wes Anderson, Christopher Nolan, Luca Guadagnino, Greta Gerwig and Denis Villeneuve.
Attaining cultural fame and critical acclaim almost simultaneously, the rise of Chalamet is rather unprecedented, with actors usually taking many years to reach the critical heights he has achieved in about half a decade. Revealing the intensity of his showbiz emergence, Chalamet explained his real professional desires to GQ: “I want to get back to the undefined space again…I’m chasing a feeling. When you think you’re doing some great thing, it’s probably something you’ve done before, and when you really fucking have no clue, that’s when you’re doing something on the edge, good or bad”.
Raised by artistic parents in New York City in 1995, Chalamet has become extremely popular online thanks to his sharp good looks and alternative style. Yet, the French-speaking actor is also known for his boyish charm, having been known in the past for his peculiar foray into rapping as a teenager.
Developing a love for rapping whilst he was a teenager at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School, Chalamet adopted the persona ‘Timmy Tim’ whenever he went out on stage. Naming Kid Cudi as a particular inspiration, it’s fair to say that the actor was nowhere near as good as the New York-based rapper, even though he managed to put together a peculiarly impressive-looking video that featured him riffing about his statistics class.
Recording the video in order to get extra credit in his class, the video showcases Chalamet’s passion for performance, as well as his frivolous fun-loving personality. If his contemporary persona reflects a stylish, image-conscious individual, then this old video highlights an entirely different side of the actor, extracting the awkward, cringe-inducing side present in almost every teenager.
The video might give the ick to any previous Chalamet superfan; still, it’s oddly refreshing to see an actor being so honestly themselves long before their career under the industry lights. That said, we’ll be pleased if he and Kid Cudi never share a stage, even ironically.
2023 is due to be a massive year for Chalamet, with the sequel to Denis Villeneuve’s blockbuster Dune with Zendaya, Austin Butler and Florence Pugh arriving towards Christmas. In addition, the actor will also be attempting to fill the big shoes of Gene Wilder as he takes on the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory prequel Wonka, helmed by the Paddington 2 director Paul King.
