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Timothée Chalamet

ACTOR · BORN 1995

Timothée Chalamet

Born
27 December 1995, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA
Known for
Dune: Part Two (2024), A Rainy Day in New York (2019), Interstellar (2014), Hot Summer Nights (2017)

26 archived facts 6 topics 1 source Last reviewed Nov 2026

Timothée Chalamet (born 27 December 1995) is an actor best known for Dune: Part Two, A Rainy Day in New York and Interstellar.

26 Interesting Facts About Timothée Chalamet

Interesting Facts (1)

  1. #001

    Before fame, Samuel L. Jackson once worked as a security guard for the apartment building he grew up in. Alicia Keys also grew up there.

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Production Story (4)

  1. #002

    Auditioned for Bates Motel (2013) but used the wrong Psycho reference point (thinking it was American Psycho) so he didn't get the role. Freddie Highmore did.

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  2. #003

    The King (2019)'s promotional poster came from a candid photo of him sitting and listening to director David Michôd, the poster was simply shaded and edited darker.

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  3. #004

    Christopher Nolan cast him Interstellar saying that his talent was immediately apparent in the audition. He would've considered casting him in the war ensemble Dunkirk (2017) if he were British.

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  4. #005

    Among movies he auditioned for but never got a response or call back include The Neon Demon (2016), White Boy Rick (2018), The Theory of Everything (2014), Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (2016), and Manchester by the Sea (2016).

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Behind the Scenes (2)

  1. #006

    Speaks French almost fluently (he puts himself at 97% fluent, because he mistakes certain gendered nouns) and learned how to speak Italian while shooting Call Me by Your Name (2017).

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  2. #007

    Despite having an Italian instructor to prepare for Call Me by Your Name, he cannot speak the language and says would have preferred to do it phonetically.

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Characters & Cast (2)

  1. #008

    Plays the piano and guitar, the former of which he played for the role of Elio in Call Me by Your Name (2017).

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  2. #009

    He was the original choice to play Oliver Quick in Saltburn (2023). Barry Keoghan landed the role.

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Career & Awards (6)

  1. #010

    As of 2024, he has been nominated for 4 Oscars, 5 Golden Globes, 6 BAFTAs, and 9 SAGs.

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  2. #011

    Became the third actor to be nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Actor - Comedy/Musical for playing Willy Wonka, with the film Wonka (2023). The first two being Gene Wilder for Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) and Johnny Depp for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005).

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  3. #012

    After Interstellar, which he thought would be his breakout role (only for it to be a minor one), Timothée had a streak of rejections and would get upset watching movies he had auditioned for or even watching movies with actors his age.

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  4. #013

    Though he started acting a child doing commercials, which he says he hated and only did it because New York children are often approached about it, he was inspired to do it professionally after seeing Heath Ledger's performance in The Dark Knight (2008). He also credits Kid Cudi with the reason he is an actor.

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  5. #014

    Missed about half of his senior year to film Homeland.

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  6. #015

    Appeared in six films honored by the American Film Institute as ranking amongst the ten best American movies of their respective years; Interstellar (2014), Lady Bird (2017), Call Me by Your Name (2017), Little Women (2019), Don't Look Up (2021) and Dune: Part One (2021).

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Life & Family (11)

  1. #016

    Timothée's American mother Nicole graduated from Yale with a BA in French and is fluent; she has taught French in the New York City public school system since the '90s.

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  2. #017

    Of his time at Columbia, he said he felt like another product on the factory line.

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  3. #018

    He was originally going to be rejected from LaGuardia, but his sophomore drama teacher insisted upon his enrollment and gave him the highest score.

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  4. #019

    Born and raised in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, New York City. He is the son of Marc Chalamet, a UNICEF editor, and Nicole Flender, a dancer and real estate broker.

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  5. #020

    His maternal grandfather Harold Flender wrote for Sid Caesar in the 1950s, along with Woody Allen. When Allen later cast Timothée in his film A Rainy Day in New York (2019), he was initially unaware of the family relation.

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  6. #021

    He spent his first big paycheck (from a Disney commercial) on season tickets for the Knicks, thinking LeBron James was going to join the team in his 2010 free agency. He had to scalp the tickets daily after school.

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  7. #022

    His name is properly pronounced Timo-TAY but he also accepts the English pronunciation Timothy, and nicknames Tim and Timmy. He chooses to go by Timothy because he doesn't like requiring all people to use the French version, as he finds that "pretentious" and "unrelatable".

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  8. #023

    He and Ansel Elgort attended Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts at the same time. He maintains when he auditioned for school plays he didn't get the roles because Ansel did, so he was relegated to the talent shows. This is mostly true as their drama teacher did cast Ansel in Hairspray and Guys and Dolls, but Timothée did get cast as the lead in Sweet Charity. Directly after high school, they co-starred in the film Men, Women & Children (2014).

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  9. #024

    He is a huge fan of Paul Thomas Anderson, whom he has described as one of his heroes, and has named Punch-Drunk Love (2002) as one of his favorite films.

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  10. #025

    Is a huge fan of French football (soccer) team AS Saint-Etienne ("les Verts").

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  11. #026

    Grew up in Manhattan Plaza, moderate income housing for performing artists in New York City.

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Sources & editorial notes

Reference databases

  • Wikipedia English Wikipedia article
  • IMDb IMDb name page (biography and trivia)

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