Timothée Chalamet’s part in the sci-fi release wasn’t as grand as he thought.
Timothée Chalamet is building out quite the resume for himself, who has headlined two of the highest-grossing films of the last eight months, breaking the decades-old record set by John Travolta. But before becoming the face of the acclaimed Dune franchise, led by Denis Villeneuve, Chalamet starred in another major sci-fi feature, directed by Christopher Nolan.
Similar to fans, who couldn’t hold their tears back while experiencing Interstellar, Chalamet too was weeping after watching his highest-grossing film, but not exactly for the reasons we did.
Timothée Chalamet Figured His Part in Interstellar Was Smaller Than It Seemed
Timothée Chalamet | Credit: Dune: Part One (via Warner Bros. Pictures)
During the filming of Interstellar, Timothée Chalamet was yet to break big in Hollywood, as it wouldn’t be until 2017’s Call Me by Your Name that he landed his footing in the realm of movies. While in the final cut, Chalamet plays a minor role as Tom, the actor revealed that his part felt way grand during the making of the sci-fi drama, which made $733M at the box office.
Chalamet, who was already feeling like a fraud when he joined Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain for the screening, revealed he wept about an hour after figuring his part was smaller than it seemed.
Speaking on Variety‘s Actors on Actors, he told Emma Stone:
“I really had no career at this point, so I was like the fraud a little bit in this room. And I saw it and I loved it, but then I went home with my dad and wept for an hour.Emma Stone: Why?Timothée: Because I just figured my part was bigger. They didn’t even cut anything. I just figured… I don’t know what I figured.”
The Dune star did film an integral emotional bit with Matthew McConaughey in the video logs scene, where Chalamet delivers a monologue. But considering the focus was on Cooper’s emotions, we never get to see Chalamet’s acting chops on the display.
The Dark Knight Put the Acting Bug in Timothée Chalamet
Despite being cut down from one of his biggest films so far, Chalamet doesn’t hold any grudges against Christopher Nolan, as he would eventually land success by starring in independent features.
Moreover, if it wasn’t for Nolan’s The Dark Knight and Heath Ledger’s iconic performance as the Joker, Chalamet mightn’t have entered the acting arena.
The Dark Knight | Warner Bros. Pictures
He said:
“When I was 12 years old, after attending one of my sister Pauline’s [ballet] performances, I petitioned my mom and grandma to see Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Dark Knight’ with me. We went to AMC Empire 25 in Times Square for a 7:30 screening. I left that theatre a changed man, and I’m serious about that. Heath Ledger‘s performance in that film was visceral and viral to me, and I now had the acting bug.”
While we might not be seeing him in the superhero landscape anytime soon, as he was advised against it by Leonardo DiCaprio, if a film similar to TDK’s quality arrives, Chalamet will be open to it.
Interstellar is available to stream on Paramount Plus.
The Dark Knight is available to stream Max.
