Why Are Ballerinas And Theatre Kids Mad At Timothèe Chalamet?

Marty Supreme star Timothèe Chalamet has sparked a huge debate online surrounding classical forms of performance art such as ballet and opera, and whether it’s ok to not take them as seriously as more mainstream arts. 

Variety recently posted an interview where Timothèe and Matthew McConaughey discussed the future of cinema and the effort to preserve it. At one point, Timothèe explained that while he understood the drive to preserve mainstream cinema, he didn’t think that level of effort was warranted when it came to other forms of performance art. 

“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,” he told McConaughey. 

He immediately followed this dismissive remark with a pretty lousy apology. 

“All respect to the ballet and opera people out there, I just lost 14 cents in viewership, I just took shots for no reason.”

@tomatoadm Miss when he was a quiet and thoughtful #timotheechalamet #ballet #fyp ♬ Laura Palmer’s Theme (Love Theme from Twin Peaks) – Angelo Badalamenti

Obviously, his comments outraged many people online, especially those in classical performance arts circles. With Timothèe being a mainstream actor, a huge part of the backlash raised the question of whether it was even his place to judge the relevance of other art forms. 

Mezzo-soprano Deepa Johnny called Timothèe’s opinion a “disappointing take” and called for a deeper appreciation across all forms of performance arts. 

“We should be trying to uplift these art forms, these artists and come together across disciplines to do that. The impact of these mediums are long lasting and life changing.”

US opera singer Isabel Leonard also hit back at the actor’s comments: “To take cheap shots at fellow artists says more in this interview than anything else he could say. Shows a lot about his character.”

Others took to social media to embrace classical arts and the significance they’ve held for centuries. Even if it might seem like “nobody cares about them”, performance arts such as ballet and opera are the backbone of the mainstream Hollywood media we love today, and hundreds of thousands of people across the world still hold a deep appreciation for them. 

 

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There has been a little bit of sympathy shown for Timothèe, with some arguing that while the comment was clumsy, he probably didn’t mean to completely dismiss these arts as a whole, and instead was just making a more objective observation that some arts are intended for more niche and smaller audiences.

Even if this was his intention, that’s not what he said, and considering the fact that he’s had a good few years being the centre of attention in Hollywood, he should probably understand by now that he should think about the way he phrases his opinions in case they come off as offensive. 

This controversy has also led ex-Timothèe fans to almost mourn the way he used to be, or at least the way he seemed to be, before this Marty Supreme fuelled shift. Before the buzz cut and the controversial takes, we had a French, floppy haired, soften spoken young actor who really embodied the kind of men he played on screen, including Laurie from Little Women and Elio from Call Me By Your Name. Many fans on TikTok claim that watching the actor’s interviews from that time in his career felt like “seeing an ex”. 

It looks like the actor is trying to shift his image away from that younger version of himself and be taken more seriously as a Hollywood actor, one of the greats. That’s totally fine, but his dismissal of any form of art that doesn’t fit into his own personal vision isn’t. These disrespectful remarks about other artists and their work, no matter what way he intended them to come out, could do a lot of damage to his own image, especially in the midst of awards season. 

There’s nothing wrong with him not wanting to work in ballet or opera, but it’s not up to him to decide whether those arts are important. They are, to so many people, case closed.