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"The next Leonardo DiCaprio." Inside the rise of the Internet's boyfriend, Timothée Chalamet.

 

When Timothée Chalamet burst into the spotlight with his appearance in Call Me By Your Name, the world quickly fell in love with the baby-faced actor.

The now 24-year-old, who appeared in the award-winning drama alongside Armie Hammer, was quick to transform from an occasional supporting actor into a full-blown Hollywood star.

Thanks to his appearance in Call Me By Your Name, Chalamet earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor – making him the third-youngest actor ever to be nominated for the award.

Watch the official trailer for Little Women, starring Timothée Chalamet, below. Post continues after video.

It’s a sudden career rise that’s led Chalamet to be compared to the likes of River Phoenix, James Dean and Leonardo DiCaprio.

And now, just three years on from the release of Call Me By Your Name, Timothée Chalamet’s face is just about everywhere.

From Netflix’s The King to Golden Globe Best Picture winner Lady Bird and of course, Little Women, Timothée Chalamet’s career just keeps on growing.

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Here’s everything you need to know about the 24-year-old’s career and relationships.

Timothée Chalamet’s childhood.

Timothée Chalamet was born in New York City’s Manhattan borough and grew up in New York City’s Hell’s Kitchen.

Chalamet’s father, who is French, was an editor who oversaw French publications at UNICEF. Chalamet’s grandma and mother were both Broadway dancers, while his older sister, Pauline, is also an actress and a ballet dancer.

“I like to think that the need to act and be seen came from my mum’s side,” Chalamet told GQ Magazine.

“But the ability to listen came from my dad’s side.”

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Timothée Chalamet in Call Me By Your Name. Image: Getty.
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The actor, who is fluent in English and French, was interested in acting from a young age. In fact, he credits watching Heath Ledger's performance as the Joker in The Dark Knight at 12 years old as the moment he knew he wanted to become an actor.

But although Chalamet considered acting full-time after high school, his mum pushed him to enrol at Columbia University first.

The 24-year-old studied cultural anthropology at the university for one year before turning his attention to acting full-time as he transferred to New York University's Gallatin School of Individualized Study.

Timothée Chalamet's career.

Timothée Chalamet's career in the acting world began with commercials, plays and some television work.

In the early years of his career, Chalamet appeared in a recurring role in Homeland and played young versions of Casey Affleck and James Franco in Interstellar and The Adderall Diaries.

When Interstellar first premiered in 2014, Chalamet expected the film to be his first big break.

But instead, he was left almost broke when the role ended up being much smaller than he initially envisioned.

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Timothée Chalamet in The King. Image: Getty.
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Thankfully, within weeks of Interstellar premiering, Chalamet met director Luca Guadagnino, who was working on an adaption of Andre Aciman's 2007 novel, Call Me By Your Name. 

Immediately, Guadagnino was struck by the young actor.

"When I had lunch with Timothée for the first time, I immediately saw in his physicality the kind of feverish, nervous angularity that André described in the book," Guadagnino said.

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"But most important, in conversation with Timothée, I learned that the young man was not only a veteran actor, having acted for many years already in TV, theatre, and even cinema, but he had the most intoxicating ambition to be a great actor."

When Chalamet landed the role of 17-year-old student Elio in the film, he dove headfirst into the role.

Ahead of filming, Chalamet arrived in Italy a month and a half early. Although the actor is fluent in French, he had to train in Italian and learn piano and guitar for the movie.

Of course, in the end, it was all worth it.

Chalamet, who was the youngest actor in 80 years to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor, was also nominated for a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a Critics' Choice Award – all for Best Actor.

Listen to the latest episode of Mamamia's daily entertainment podcast, The Spill, below. Post continues after podcast.

Following his role in Call Me By Your Name, Chalamet appeared in Lady Bird as Kyle Scheible, opposite actress Saoirse Ronan.

The movie, which won the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy in 2018, was directed by Greta Gerwig.

"He's Christian Bale, Daniel Day-Lewis, Leonardo DiCaprio," director Greta Gerwig said of Chalamet.

"A heartthrob but with thoroughbred acting chops. Everyone else will be amazed by what he grows into, but I won't – I've always known that he's a unicorn."

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In 2018, Chalamet portrayed a teenager addicted to methamphetamine alongside Steve Carrell in drama Beautiful Boy.

The next year, he worked on Woody Allen's A Rainy Day in New York.

Following accusations of sexual assault against the director, however, Chalamet famously donated his salary from the film to charities Time's Up, LGBT Centre of New York and RAINN.

 

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Since then, Chalamet has appeared in Netflix's The King opposite Robert Pattinson and appeared in the recently released Little Women.

Currently, the actor is working on Dune and The French Dispatch. It's also heavily rumoured that the 24-year-old will play a young Bob Dylan in an upcoming biographical film.

Amid taking on a number of new roles this year, Chalamet has also become a huge figure in pop culture.

The actor, who has quickly gained a huge fan base, often makes news for simply changing his hair... or even growing a moustache.

There's also a popular Instagram account followed by over 80,000 people, which photoshops Chalamet's face onto famous artworks.

(Seriously, it's worth a follow.)

 

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Timothée Chalamet's relationships.

From 2013 to 2014, Timothée Chalamet dated Madonna's daughter, Lourdes Maria Ciccone Leon.

The pair, who both attended La Guardia High School of Music & Arts in New York, met on a dance floor at a party.

In an interview with Andy Cohen, Chalamet shared Leon's reactions to Call Me By Your Name.

"She hasn't seen it yet, but she's excited to," he said.

"She teases me about the public appearances... the movie itself she's very excited about and the reception it's been getting is only a great thing. It's like the public appearance stuff around it, like some of the late-night things I've done. I get made fun of."

In 2018, Chalamet met Lily-Rose Depp on the set of The King.

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Timothée Chalamet and Lily-Rose Depp. Image: Getty.
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Timothée Chalamet and Lily-Rose Depp. Image: Getty.
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Speaking to Vogue Australia, Depp spoke fondly of her co-star.

"Timothée brings an emotional vulnerability to everything he does, almost without even trying. That's his gift. He's so immensely talented and I feel like nobody could have taken on the role like he did," she said.

Although it hasn't been confirmed, it's believed the pair began dating while the film was shooting. They have since been linked for over a year.

In late 2019, Chalamet and Depp were photographed kissing on a yacht in Italy, with the paparazzi photos going viral.

When it comes to red carpet events, however, Chalamet has instead chosen to take his mother or his sister instead of a date.

Feature Image: Getty.


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