Timothee Chalamet has long positioned himself as an actor dedicated to his craft. With some of his most iconic roles – Call Me By Your Name, The French Dispatch Of The Liberty Belle, Lady Bird – verging the arthouse genre, an appreciation of the arts, in all its forms has always been assumed.
The French actor’s recent comments about ballet and opera have, understandably, offended lovers of the arts, creators in the industry and his wider fanbase. Suddenly, the world is seeing the actor in a very different, and unflattering light.
In a conversation with Matthew McConaughey for Variety, the Oscar nominee was filmed dismissing ballet and opera as art forms “no one cares about anymore”.
Discussing the challenge of holding modern audiences’ attention, Chalamet said: “I don’t want to be working in ballet or opera where it’s like, ‘Hey! Keep this thing alive,’ even though no one cares about this anymore.”
The Marty Supreme star appeared to immediately recognise the misstep, quickly adding, “All respect to the ballet and opera people out there — I just lost 14 cents in viewership. I’m taking shots for no reason.”
The disclaimer did little to soften the blow, with his unfiltered comments pirouetting him straight into the wrath of lovers of the arts.
Chalamet’s comments were immediately met with backlash from the likes of Metropolitan Opera, LA Opera, and the Royal Ballet as well as Jamie Lee Curtis and Doja Cat.
Opera singer Isabel Leonard commenting, “Honestly, I’m shocked that someone so seemingly successful can be so ineloquent and narrow-minded in his views about art while considering himself an artist.
Doja Cat also took to TikTok to express her disdain.
“[Chalamet] had the nerve to say on camera that nobody cares about [ballet and opera],” the singer said. “It doesn’t matter if the industry is having a tough time, it doesn’t mean people don’t care about it. People give a f–k.”
Meanwhile, organisations like Seattle Opera took the slight in their stride and seized the growing conversation to sell seats to their weekend showing of Carmen by offering a discount with the code ‘Timothee’. Incredible work, if you ask us.
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