Timothée Chalamet is under fire for dissing ballet and opera, but it's not the first time he's gone after the classic art forms.
Chalamet recently took part in a “CNN & Variety Town Hall Event” with Matthew McConaughey at the end of February, and spoke about wanting to keep movie theaters relevant.
“I don’t want to be working in ballet or opera, or, you know, things where it’s like, ‘Hey, keep this thing alive.' Even though it’s like, no one cares about this anymore," the Marty Supreme star shared. “All respect to the ballet and opera people out there,” he added, saying he “took shots for no reason.”
Despite the addendum, people were highly offended by Chalamet's words. While it seems as though the actor was talking about the public losing interest in ballet and opera, his comments came across as belittling. His phrasing implied that those careers are fallbacks, but they are two of the hardest art forms. The backlash started to spread like wildfire last week.
Many big names in opera and ballet clapped back at Chalamet, including London’s Royal Ballet and Opera and the Met.
What else has Timothée Chalamet said about ballet and opera?
Internet sleuths have discovered that it's not the first time Chalamet has made disparaging comments about the fine arts. During a 2019 screening of The King, Chalamet called ballet and opera "dying art forms."
"Genuinely, what is his problem with opera and ballet?" wrote u/tesstess21x in a post featuring the clip on Reddit. "It’s been 7 years, and he’s still dissing them."
"I just KNOW a ballerina rejected him in 8th grade," u/40_Love theorized.
u/Walking_the_dead guessed, "This must be some sort of manifestation of unresolved family turmoil at this point, right?"
"The fact that he keeps saying this when generations of women in his family did ballet does kinda make it seem like it's just an extended temper tantrum because he's upset he had to go support them as a kid and see some of their performances," agreed u/jkraige.
In another 2019 appearance, this time on the BBC's The Graham Norton Show, Chalamet said, “I love movies. I love acting. I love going to movies. I was kinda getting scared when I was younger that maybe it was becoming like opera or something, like an outdated art form or something.”
While it still doesn't seem like Chalamet was purposely taking shots at opera and ballet in either instance, it certainly does come across as unsupportive. Paired with his recent comments, however, his previous words aren't doing him any favors in the court of public opinion.
Will Chalamet's comments ruin his Oscar chances?
Many people seem to think Chalamet has ruined his chances at winning the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Marty Supreme. It's no secret that the actor wants to win the prize.
He's been on a pretty intense press tour, and last year he went viral for his acceptance speech at the SAG Awards (now Actor Awards). He won Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor for A Complete Unknown, and spoke about his goal to become one of the "greats" of acting.
While some would consider it unfair to allow a press mishap to alter someone's chances of winning an Oscar, it's completely possible.
However, despite the fact that Chalamet's viral comments were from a February 25th interview, most major outlets did not start reporting on the backlash until March 6th. Oscar voting closed on March 5th. While Chalamet's off-putting press tour could ruin his chances, it's unlikely his ballet and opera comments will be a factor.
That being said, Chalamet was never a lock to win. While he did take home the Golden Globe this year for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy, Wagner Moura won Best Actor in a Drama for The Secret Agent, shaking up the stats.
Meanwhile, Michael B. Jordon won Best Actor at the Actor Awards (formally the SAG Awards) for Sinners, and Robert Aramayo won the BAFTA for Best Actor despite not being in the running for the Academy Award. Chalamet, Moura, and Jordan are also competing against Leonardo DiCaprio's performance in One Battle After Another and Ethan Hawke's in Blue Moon.
It will certainly be interesting to see who takes home the gold on March 15th.
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