The rise of Timothee Chalamet in five movies (2024)

Timothée Chalamet’s rise to the big-time has been nothing short of inspiring. Quickly becoming one of the most sought-after actors in Hollywood, the young actor is undoubtedly writing his name into the history books with continually impressive performances.

In his most recent project, Wonka, Chalamet stands in as Gene Wilder’s prodigal son as he takes on the iconic role. The film’s director, Paul King, dubbed the young actor “a genius” as the latest in a long line of major movie names to fall totally for his talent.

In less than a decade, the actor has racked up credits and opportunities that some actors work towards for a lifetime. He’s become a favoured performer cast by the modern greats of directing as Greta Gerwig, Wes Anderson, Denis Villeneuve, Luca Guadagnino, and more brought him into their cinematic world.

But while Chalamet is now Hollywood’s hottest actor and a true A-List celebrity, his climb to the top hasn’t followed a traditional path. The actor has routinely cast off more typical or mainstream roles in favour of arthouse picks and characters with real soul. Never shying away from huge emotions, difficult topics or new challenges, Chalamet seems to let his heart lead him from project to project, succeeding fully at each one.

Already, his filmography is remarkable, but to get to grips with his career and swift rise, these five films stand out as essential viewing.

The rise of Timothée Chalamet in five movies:

Call Me By Your Name (Luca Guadagnino, 2017)

Call Me By Your Name was an unlikely box office smash. As the final instalment in Luca Guadagnino’s thematic ‘Desire’ trilogy, neither of the other two films performed beyond the independent circle. But the third was a triumph, largely due to the incredible introduction of Timothée Chalamet.

The film wasn’t his first, but this coming-of-age romance suddenly shot Chalamet from a well-liked side character into a lead actor to watch. His performance as Elio, a teenager exploring his sexuality and experiencing the complexity of his first love, is utterly gripping and subtly devastating. Upon meeting the actor, the director immediately knew that he had “the ambition, the intelligence, the sensitivity, the naivety, and the artistry” to play the role. As the credits roll and Elio weeps in front of the fire, moving through the motions of sadness, anger and acceptance, Chalamet more than proves his power.

Lady Bird (Greta Gerwig, 2017)

Lady Bird feels essential when understanding the actor’s rise for two reasons. The first is that Chalamet plays an outcast. Rather than going down the trajectory of the charming leading man, whose obvious good looks would have more than afforded him, he has always seemed to care more about the character’s heart. As Kyle Scheible, the actor plays Lady Bird’s bad boy crush, personifying the ultimate walking red flag of a young boy in a band who thinks he’s cool. Chalamet’s comedic timing and full embodiment of all the cringiness of the role is masterful.

The second important factor comes in the form of Saoirse Ronan. Every now and then, an acting duo comes around with such wonderful chemistry that they keep being put together. There is Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks, Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, and now Ronan and Chalamet. Greta Gerwig loved Chalamet but specifically treasured his scenes with Ronan so much that she would go on to cast them again in Little Women as the heart-aching duo of Jo March and Laurie.

“They have an energy between them that is like they become a bonfire when they’re together,” the director said of the duo. “They’re both so alive and they’re both so talented and so smart and so young. When you put them together it’s like combustion.” When looking at Chalamet’s career, it feels inseparably linked to his repeat roles with Ronan.

Beautiful Boy (Felix Van Groeningen, 2018)

In 2018, Chalamet ramped it up. He’d become a master in the subtly devastating art of the coming-of-age film, but his next project, Beautiful Boy, proved his ability in outright emotional destruction. Anyone who has seen this film can attest to its gut gut-wrenching power, as Chalamet’s role as Nic Sheff took his career to the next level.

Based on the real-life story of a New York Times journalist as he navigated his son’s drug dependence, Beautiful Boy is a no-holds-back look at the way addiction affects a whole family. As a father and son duo, Steve Carrell and Timothée Chalamet push each other to their emotional limits, making for a film that is utterly painful to watch despite being so well done.

If there was ever a second of doubt that Chalamet was a one-trick pony, this film shut the critics up as he proved his ability to navigate darker topics and mature with his career.

Dune (Denis Villeneuve, 2021)

While Chalamet clearly loves roles with heart and enjoys being the darling of the independent cinema world, he still has the prowess and presence of a true Hollywood star. His role in the big-budget, mainstream blockbuster Dune proved that.

Taking on the lead role in a film with a $165million budget is no easy feat. The pressure was seriously on as Chalamet and the cast attempted to tackle a story that had previously been called “unfilmable” due to the complex backstory and mass of content provided by the book. But as Dune surpassed its box office estimations, they more than succeeded.

As Paul Atreides, Chalamet brings the protagonist to life with ease and might. Playing a powerful and charismatic leader, the actor continued his mission to become just that in Hollywood.

Bones And All (Luca Guadagnino, 2022)

The magic of Chalamet’s career lies in his refusal to do what is expected of him. After a major Hollywood role like his Dune character, he could’ve simply continued up on that action movie leading man ladder. But instead, he side-stepped into the stunning Bones and All. Reuniting with the Call Me By Your Name director, Chalamet’s maturity as an actor was on full display.

A tragic love story of two cannibals trying to find home and safety amidst their own violence, Chalamet and scene partner Taylor Russell are a triumph here. The actor cuts through as a true Romeo type, navigating this strange horror-come-romance with the same emotional power as Leonardo DiCaprio in the Baz Luhrmann adaptation. In the climaxing moments of the film, as their fear and desperation boil over, the two young actors put in frenzied yet haunting performances.

Related Topics