If you were to name Timothée Chalamet‘s best performance to date, you’d probably reply with Dune, or Bones and All, or Call Me by Your Name. But the actor himself doesn’t rank your favorites anywhere near his favorite.
Chalamet doesn’t see Dune as his the crowning achievement of his career *cue the dramatic music*. Is there some undiscovered gem of a film we missed while he was still climbing the fame ladder? Surprisingly and sadly, no. Chalamet’s favorite movie of his entire career is one where his role is, generously speaking, small. In fact, his performance in this film is so tiny that if you blinked, you probably missed him. Does Interstellar ring a bell in terms of Chalamet? No? Well, it doesn’t for most other people, either.
Discussing Film recently revealed on its X account that the 28-year-old actor considers Interstellar the best movie in his filmography. But instead of fans agreeing with his opinion, the post was filled with fans admitting that they had “ZERO idea he was in it.” However, the actor isn’t bluffing his way into Nolan’s world, since he actually did play a part in the 2014 film.
Chalamet played the role of a young Tom Cooper, one of Joseph Cooper’s (Matthew McConaughey) two children, whom he leaves behind on planet Earth when he’s called away to space. But cut to six years back, Chalamet admitted that he wasn’t very happy about the length of his role in Interstellar and cried for an hour after watching the final cut (via Variety). “I just figured my part was bigger. They didn’t even cut anything. I just figured… I don’t know what I figured,” the actor said.
But six years later now, it seems that the actor has made peace with his small role, so much so that he considers it the best part of his filmography. However, fans remain clueless that he was even the film he considers his best. One user wrote: “I was today years old when I discovered that Timothée Chalamet was in Interstellar,” while another one was still in disbelief: “He wasn’t even in that movie??” And we can’t really blame them, since Chalamet only appears in only a handful of scenes before Casey Affleck takes on the role of a grown-up Tom Cooper.
It could be the case that Chalamet simply sat down, reviewed his entire filmography — every indie drama, every romantic comedy, every epic piece — and declared Interstellar to be the best of the bunch, overlooking how he performed in them. That’s the only case where his statement makes sense. Otherwise, whenever Chalamet’s name rings my eardrums, my brain immediately fires up a slideshow of iconic images: his broody, “I’m deep in thought” eyes, that Greek God jawline, and him as Paul Atreides in his dark suit.
For those who hate good cinema, Atreides is the main character portrayed by Chalamet in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune duology (soon to be a trilogy). I’d wager my right to binge-watch anything on Netflix that the Dune movies define Chalamet for most fans. Unless, of course, he somehow lands a Nolan film where his role lasts more than a glorified cameo (no offense to Interstellar, Timothée), Dune will likely be the film series he’s remembered for decades to come. At least until another Wonka comes along.