If you have internet access, chances are you’ve probably seen that Timothée Chalamet has been spotted filming yet another film in New York City, this time helmed by 1/2 of the Safdie Bros, Josh Safdie, in the upcoming A24 film, Marty Supreme, based on professional ping pong player, Marty Reisman (excuse the run-on sentence, but there was a lot to fit in). And with the arrival of these photos, the internet has been inflamed with yet another recurring bout of Chalamania, and his latest film in which he plays Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown, hasn’t even released yet. Now I’m not questioning the young actor’s talent, of which he has an abundance, but rather the frequency with which we see him. Last year, he played Willy Wonka and then returned for Dune part 2, all within the span of, what felt like, hours; now he’s slated for two back to back biopics, an exhaustive genre of film some have called “the new Marvel movie” (remember the Whitney Houston and Bob Marley biopics that came out relatively recently? Neither do we).
Let’s take a look at the directors Chalamet has worked with in the last few years: Wes Anderson, Denis Villeneuve, James Mangold, Luca Guadagnino, Greta Gerwig, Christopher Nolan, Adam McKay, heck, he even made a commercial with Martin Scorsese. Out of all the current filmmaking greats on the planet, he’s essentially worked with them all, only ones missing are Quentin Tarantino, Paul Thomas Anderson, and he’s now filming with 1/2 of the Safdie Bros., so he’ll soon have that base covered too. That is truly an incredible resumé. But dare I say, is it also too much too soon?
As good of an actor as he is, has the sight of his face plastered on every poster on every bus bench and billboard across the planet in the last few years not become a bit exhausting? As I write this, I come at it from a place of admiration, because he is genuinely a rare talent, albeit one I fear is getting completely drained before we have a chance to see what he’s really capable of. But is he really the one to blame? After all, the big budget filmmakers such as Villeneuve and Mangold can use him to add to their already stratospheric star power; the slightly more ‘indie’ variety such as Safdie and Guadagnino can use his reputable name to attract fans and investment from producers. This also allows Chalamet to flex his acting chops in all domains: blockbusters gets you the payday, indies get you the artistic respect (and sometimes those categories are intertwined, as is the case with Villeneuve and Nolan). One is reminded of the Jennifer Lawrence mania a few years ago – remember that? In 2012-13, J.Law was the most googled woman of the year and, understandably, after she won the Oscar for Silver Linings Playbook and completed her stint as Katniss in four different The Hunger Games, she went on a bit of a hiatus.
“I was not pumping out the quality that I should have,” Lawrence said in an interview with People Magazine at the time. “I just think everybody had gotten sick of me. I’d gotten sick of me.”
Perhaps it was her own decision or that of her agency/marketing team, but they managed to remove her from the spotlight just in time before the public completely exhausted themselves with her. And when you win an Academy Award at only 22 years old while simultaneously starring in one of the biggest franchises of recent memory, one must wonder how much gunpowder she had left.
In an interview some years ago, Johnny Depp discussed a conversation he had with legendary actor, Marlon Brando, who asked him how many movies he makes per year. When Depp gave his answer, the late Brando told him to cut that number down as we, “Only have so many faces in our pocket.” See the full clip below.
As Nicolas Cage says in the film The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, “People say I make too many movies. Isn’t it good that I’m working so much?” It’s funny, but in nearly every other industry that would be the case, but when the product you’re selling is your own face, then scarcity may be the preference.
Just the same, Tom Holland said, “If I’m playing Spider-Man at 30, I’ve done something wrong.” Well, Tom, you are now 28 years old, and there are several more Spider-Man movies, and spinoffs, slated for release so, uh, looks like you might want to revoke that statement.
In an interview from 1982, Jack Nicholson, then 45 years old, says (I’m paraphrasing), “I’m grateful I didn’t make it when I was young because if I had, today, we would be talking about my comeback.” As is evident that Jack never had, nor needed, a comeback, because ever since he first became famous, at 32 years old, in 1969’s Easy Rider, he has always stayed relevant. He won an Oscar in each ensuing decade – 1970s, ’80s, ’90s – and his last major performance in The Departed (2006), is inarguably one of the best of his career. But as he told co-star Matt Damon behind the scenes of the Oscar-winning Scorsese classic, “I never would have made it this far if I wasn’t such a f***ing good writer.” Perhaps that explains why Nicholson remains atop the Mt. Olympus of acting, whereas his contemporary, Robert DeNiro, has become a cringe inducing laughing stock who, aside from the help of good pal Scorsese, hasn’t made anything of value for many, many years (remember this catastrophe?).
Considering the many faces Chalamet is able to pull off, and without a single one of his movies being panned by critics in his very short, lucrative career, one can only gaze in awe, and I hope he pulls off Bob Dylan as convincingly as he does sword fighting with Austin Butler on Arrakis. If he gets nominated for yet another Oscar for the upcoming A Complete Unknown (of course he’ll be nominated, that’s the whole point of biopics – winning an Oscar), then perhaps he’ll pull a J.Law and take refuge in the shadows until the public misses him again.
“No superhero movies,” Leonardo DiCaprio famously told Chalamet in terms of career advice. If he honours that statement, he’ll probably be okay.
