What has happened to Timothee Chalamet?
Just a few short weeks ago, Hollywood’s golden boy appeared to be a shoo-in to win his first Oscar for his arresting portrayal of a boundlessly ambitious table tennis player in Marty Supreme.
However, his odds have plummeted in the final stretch of the best actor race, as controversy erupted over Chalamet’s viral comments dismissing opera and ballet as art forms that “no one cares about anymore.”
Photo: AP
Chalamet’s jocular comments, made during an on-stage interview with Matthew McConaughey, earned him rebukes from several major opera houses and Hollywood celebrities including Academy Award winner Jamie Lee Curtis.
The 30-year-old performer was even scolded by the principal of New York’s LaGuardia High School, the very institution where Chalamet honed his craft, and which inspired the musical film and TV series Fame.
Memes entitled “How to Lose an Oscar in 10 Days” have swiftly spread across social media.
However, all might not be as it appears. Pete Hammond, a veteran entertainment columnist with Hollywood trade Web site Deadline, said that the opera furor has had “zero effect” on the Oscars.
“That’s not a factor... It didn’t go viral until very late in the game, and that wasn’t in time to influence voting,” Hammond said.
Indeed, although Chalamet made the remarks last month, they went largely unnoticed until they began spreading online earlier this month. Oscars voting closed on March 5.
“That particular comment isn’t going to hurt him in the Oscars,” Hammond said.
Nonetheless, pundits and prediction markets alike are clear that Chalamet’s chances have declined precipitously. After cleaning up at awards shows early this year including the Critics Choice Awards and the Golden Globes, Chalamet lost first at Britain’s BAFTAs, and then at this month’s Actor Awards.
The latter is especially significant as it is voted for by Hollywood’s actors union, and actors make up the largest voting bloc for the Oscars.
They favored Michael B. Jordan for his dual role as gangster twins, rebelling against a segregationist US and battling supernatural forces in Sinners.
So, what is the explanation for the sudden reversal of a race that had long seemed over?
Several theories abound. Back in January, the New York Times highlighted the so-called “young actor’s curse,” saying that Academy voters historically favor veterans in the male categories.
Even Leonardo DiCaprio — a nominee again this year, for One Battle After Another — was made to wait until he was 41 to finally win with The Revenant, his fifth acting nomination.
If successful, Chalamet would be the second-youngest best actor winner in history, after Adrien Brody, who was 29 when he won in 2003 for The Pianist.
Others have accused Chalamet of arrogance.
Last year, campaigning for his portrayal of Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown, Chalamet publicly trumpeted his ambitions to be “one of the greats,” seeming to compare himself to multiple Oscar winners Daniel Day-Lewis and Marlon Brando.
He lost that Oscar race to Brody, who took his second golden statuette.
This year, Chalamet has leaned into his Marty Supreme character’s pretentious persona, most notably by “leaking” a parody video call with publicists in which he muses on painting New York’s Statue of Liberty orange — the color of the ping-pong balls featured in the film.
It was one of a number of brash, outside-the-box marketing stunts by Chalamet, who also posed triumphantly atop the giant Sphere in Las Vegas.
The campaign paid off handsomely at the box office. A small indie film about a relatively obscure sport grossed US$275 million worldwide.
“It was a masterpiece of marketing for the movie,” Hammond said.
“But an Oscar campaign is different. You have to play a very smart and subtle game,” he added.
The hype built by Chalamet’s antics might have inflated expectations for his performance that ultimately went unfulfilled, Hammond said.
Or, if the Oscar eludes Chalamet again tonight, it could be the fault of Marty Mauser, the film’s selfish and self-absorbed protagonist.
“He’s playing an unlikable character, so maybe it’s just come down to that: It gives voters a reason to not vote for his character,” Hammond said.
One Oscars voter, who asked not to be identified, because Academy members cannot discuss their ballots, said they found Chalamet’s character “just so obnoxious.”
They described having a “visceral” reaction to the performance, but voted instead for The Secret Agent star Wagner Moura.
Chalamet “succeeded in being an unlikable guy, I will give him that,” the voter said.
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