Timothée Chalamet Admitted He Lost Out on Many Roles Because He Didn’t Have the ‘Right Body’
Timothée Chalamet has had roles in both box office smash successes and award winning indie films. The young actor has become one of the most sought after stars in Hollywood, but he said it wasn’t always this way. Early in his career, Chalamet said he couldn’t land the types of roles he wanted. He said he continued to get the feedback that he didn’t have the right body for the parts.
Timothée Chalamet once said he struggled to get roles
When Chalamet started his career, he auditioned for major films and franchises. He said nobody wanted to give him these parts.
“I would always get the same feedback,” he told Rolling Stone. “‘Oh, you don’t have the right body.’ I had an agent call me once and say, ‘I’m tired of getting the same feedback. We’re gonna stop submitting you for these bigger projects, because you’re not putting on weight.’”
He said this wasn’t for lack of trying. He struggled to put on weight.
“I was trying to put on weight,” he said, adding, “I couldn’t! I basically couldn’t. My metabolism or whatever the f*** couldn’t do it.”
Ultimately, though, the turn his career took was good for him. He received an Oscar nomination for his role in Call Me By Your Name and has received critical acclaim for further roles.
“I was knocking on one door that wouldn’t open,” he said. “So I went to what I thought was a more humble door, but actually ended up being explosive for me.
Timothée Chalamet shared how this helped his role as Bob Dylan
Chalamet is portraying Bob Dylan in the 2024 film A Complete Unknown. He said his early career struggles reminded him of Dylan’s.
“If he couldn’t become Elvis or Buddy Holly immediately,” Chalamet explained, “he found Woody Guthrie and stuff that was a little more accomplishable, and happened to be really good at it. And that immediately hit a bone with me.”
He also spoke about honing his talent
Chalamet said that another reason he connected to Dylan was because of the way he presented his talent. It was just an inherent part of him.
“I related to the feeling that my talent could be my talent,” he said. “I could draw the picture of an unconventional upbringing. I grew up in arts housing, Manhattan Plaza, which is a funky way to grow up. I could try to paint it negatively to you. I could try to paint it positively, but it’s a bit of everything. It’s nuanced.”
He didn’t think he could or needed to point to a specific point in his life that turned him into an actor. It was always within him.
“I don’t need to point to some thing in my youth. Your talent is your talent,” he said. “The thing you gotta say is the thing you gotta say. You don’t need the Big Bang.”
