hubris: the timothée chalamet story

quel dommage, etc.

Do you think it was in an attempt to seem less French and pretentious that Timothée Chalamet (a) sat down for a CNN/Variety town hall with Matthew McConaughey and (b) told the same that “no one cared about” opera and ballet? I fear someone forgot to remind Chalamet that he is literally an actor campaigning to win an Oscar and that voting had yet to conclude when he made his little comments about fellow artists.

“I don’t want to be working in ballet, or opera, or things where it’s like, ‘Hey, keep this thing alive, even though like no one cares about this anymore.’ All respect to all the ballet and opera people out there,” Chalamet added, to laughter from the crowd. (People.com)

Given how we’ve seen the comment play out in the real world over the last few days, no fragment has been funnier to me than “to laughter from the crowd.”

You might be wondering why these two were out there acting like the New Hampshire primaries were around the corner. A town hall, I swear to god. A quick google search reminded me that McConaughey¹ is currently a professor at UT Austin, which, like, sure. I guess the man needs an occupation now that Texas has elected Glen Powell as its new Hollywood representative. And Chalamet has not been shy about his willingness to take any available opportunity to vie his peers’ official recognition.

Above all, these are two men who love to hear themselves talk. You can hear the self-adoration in the palpable absence of silence running through every singular frame of this hour-long town hall.

Never forget, of course, that McConaughey is someone who in his 2014 Oscars acceptance speech saved his last nugget of gratitude for his hero: his future self. And you know what, less than a decade later he would ink a $10 million a year deal with Salesforce to act as the company’s “creative adviser and TV pitchman” (I’m not making up these titles … it’s like he swallowed an entire team of junior McKinsey consultants). The actor’s hero (himself) bravely turned a blind eye to the thousands of employees Salesforce has laid off in the last five years. Greed will make fools of us all. Sadly, being foolish to begin with won’t exempt you. Becoming a bigger fool is always an option.

But anyway, back to Timmy, who literally could’ve sat there and ate his food but instead chose to succeed in the awesome task of brimming with even more overconfidence than Matthew McConaughey.

Variety’s subtitle for this event was “an unforgettable interview” and they were RIGHT! (Photo: Shayan Asgharnia via CNN/Variety)

There’s something so refreshingly honest about self-sabotage. Do you guys remember Karla Sofía Gascón’s trainwreck Oscars campaign from last year, a situation somehow altogether separate from the filmographic atrocity that was Emilia Pérez? God, what a trip. If you’ve excised the memory from your brain (my congratulations), this was when a simple walk down Gascón’s twitter feed revealed that from around 2015 until 2020, the Best Actress nominee had appointed herself as a hate speech ambassador. For, btw, not against.²

Obviously, provided you’re not a guest at a Frasier Crane dinner party, comments against ballet and opera are not hate speech. But the Icarian attitude is, I think, something that Gascón and Chalamet share. With the former, it was the carelessness of not even bothering to delete old tweets of a most shocking and hateful nature; with the latter, the apparent belief that the weight of his talent and charisma could offset the on-camera expression of disparaging, offensive, and untrue remarks.

Unrelated, sorry, it’s only that I just got my developed film roll in my inbox ten minutes ago and it’s like well, why not add a couple of them here.

It’s funny because no one’s really out to get Chalamet; in fact, I’d wager that many of us harbor something between a neutral and a begrudgingly positive opinion of him. Just last week, I wrote that:

It feels unfortunate to have a soft spot for Timothée Chalamet, mainly because of his Frenchness. But I do, and I can’t help appreciating his earnest and open dedication to self-discipline and, to use his word, greatness.

Alas, I spoke too soon. Within minutes, he’d almost certainly ruined his chances of standing on that stage, reciting the acceptance speech I just know he’s been practicing for years, all because he couldn’t keep his intrusive thoughts from escaping his mouth. You kinda have to laugh, no? And btw, none of that oh, he’s young apologia—he’s skinny, but he’s 30.

Hubris, man. This is why a little insecurity goes a long way. It’s hard to be hoisted by your own petard if you possess a healthy shred of self-doubt. I know I frequently cite delusion as a necessary component of success, and I stand by that, but there are levels. It’s a hard balance to strike, but sturdily believing in yourself without losing all your self-awareness is key.

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Because it’s not really the point, I don’t even think it’s necessary to denote how very much people do care about the opera and ballet. I mention Center Stage (2000) on a weekly basis, Tchaikovsky soundtracks more of my days than not, and last month when my brother and I walked by a hair salon called Figaro, we both spontaneously began singing per un barbiere di qualitá-di qualitá-di qualitá. These are, you understand, universal experiences.

An art form being less accessible than others—largely by virtue of poor funding—does not make it culturally irrelevant, and it behooves anyone who calls himself an artist to recognize this, not least because you never know which way the pendulum of access might swing.

Close to where that hair salon was, I think.

By now I think you all know how difficult it is for me to not speak of anti-intellectualism and how a growing societal disdain for intentional erudition is making us all meaner and dumber, two of the worst things a society already in collapse can become. So to save us from a well-trodden tangent, I won’t speak on anti-intellectualism.

That being said.

It is wild to be someone dedicated to the arts and simultaneously employ a rampant lack of curiosity regarding your fellow artists. Chalamet has waxed poetic about his path toward greatness, but it’s not a pursuit that can go very far so long as your blinders remain in place. I’d argue that especially when it comes to the arts, effort and hard work can never be complete when it focuses solely on the individual without incorporating the collective.

I mean, not to bring another problematic TC to the table, but Tom Cruise, whose advice Chalamet received a few years ago, would never. Tunnel vision is well and good when it pertains to building discipline, but if you care about the well-being of your industry and the long-term development of your craft (and these might be the only things Cruise truly cares about), it becomes necessary to stray beyond the strict confines of your own success. This is perhaps one of the reasons why McConaughey’s main claim to fame in the last decade is a starring role in Salesforce ads.

The spirit of solidarity was not coursing through Chalamet when he decided to ignore all his media training and disparage ballet and opera, two fields whose talent barrier to entry is frankly much higher than screen acting. Respectfully!

You have to give a fuck about your peers. That’s the whole point. Did the strikes teach that man nothing?

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Lastly: let this not be interpreted as a defense of the Kardashian-Jenners because lol can you imagine, but I will say I do find it interesting how quick people are to blame Kylie Jenner’s influence for this faux pas. As if Chalamet isn’t capable of being annoying, short-sighted, and hubristic all by himself. It may be Women’s History Month but do let me be the first to say: give a man his due.

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I wouldn’t say that Chalamet was a favorite to win the Oscar prior to his little comments (personally, I think it’s between Michael B. Jordan and Wagner Moura), but he wasn’t not in the conversation. Now, though … well. This is why method acting, beyond being obnoxious, is also dangerous. Marty Mauser may have had whatever the Safdie version of a happily-ever-after is, but it seems unlikely that Chalamet will. At least this awards season.

It appears, then, that Timmy’s climb to Thespian Olympus shall have to be delayed. Tant pis, babes.

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1. Do you know how chilling it was to realize that I could spell that last name without looking it up?

2. I wrote about it.