Why Timothée Chalamet thinks his “riskiest” role was misunderstood
There’s no doubt that Timothée Chalamet is the biggest movie star of his generation, and the comparisons to Leonardo DiCaprio make sense, because the reason for his continued success is that he simply hasn’t missed.
Every single role he has accepted has been with a significant director, challenging him to do something different, and has been fronted as an awards contender. In an era when many young stars are forced to gain experience by taking on roles in franchises, which then end up dominating their schedules, Chalamet has been savvy in choosing what sort of ‘commercial’ plays he makes.
Even though he signed on to play Paul Atreides in Dune, with the knowledge that it could become a trilogy, the adaptation of Frank Herbert’s science fiction novel was considered to be a work of prestige cinema, especially since it came from a celebrated director, Denis Villeneuve. It ended up being his biggest win to date, as both of the first two Dune films were nominated for ‘Best Picture’ at the Academy Awards.
The most surprising choice of Chalamet’s career thus far has been his decision to star in Wonka, as no one was really asking for another adaptation of the Roald Dahl novel, and beyond the fact that the actor didn’t seem like the right choice to star in a family-friendly, PG-rated musical comedy, the film came with tremendous expectations because of the shoes he had to fill.
Gene Wilder’s performance in the original Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory is one of the greatest acting turns of the ‘70s, and Johnny Depp’s interpretation in Tim Burton’s Charlie & the Chocolate Factory has a special place in the hearts of those who grew up with it, but, against all odds, Wonka ended up being a hit, as its old-fashioned charms were exactly what the holiday season needed.
Chalamet has certainly not been embarrassed by the film and has spoken out about why he is proud of it, saying, “The instinct is to work with great directors, first and foremost. If you’re trying to do a great performance, but you don’t have somebody wrangling it in a good way, it doesn’t come to fruition. The riskiest thing was Wonka. It was an untraditional career step, in that I had done serious movies already.”
While some had been confused by Chalamet’s choice to star in Wonka, he said that he had made the decision based on his admiration for the film’s director, Paul King, who was best known for his work on the Paddington films.
“Paddington and Paddington 2 are tremendous movies to me,” he admitted, “I feel like that movie didn’t get its fair shake, even though it was financially successful. I honestly thought it was kinda punk rock to do something that wasn’t so cool, about drugs or something, but I don’t think people really took it that way. It is what it is. I got some free chocolate out of it.”
Wonka became the first film to solidify Chalamet’s dominance at the Christmas box office, as he followed it up with A Complete Unknown in 2024 and Marty Supreme in 2025, a trend that is expected to continue with Dune: Part Three scheduled to be released this Christmas.
