FILM ACTING: It's Timothee Time

 

    The time has come. I hope most of you knew it was coming. I mean I knew it was inevitable, and I've been doing my best to avoid letting myself cut loose and just gush about Timmy. But I'm thinking: it's my favorite month of the year, and Timmy has two movies coming out this month... so what the hell. 

    Timothee Chalamet has taken over Hollywood as the hot (but some say sickly) Victorian child with a sharp jaw line and messy curls. His overtaking of Hollywood has been so vast and so quick; most know his face, even if it's just as the douchebag from Lady Bird or the gay Italian heartthrob from Call Me By Your Name. But I see him as not only one of the most beautiful men to have ever walked the face of the earth (xoxo), but one of the best male actors working in Hollywood today. 

    I'm going to try and keep my opinions of Timothee's acting separate from my love of his looks and personality. But I'm not sure I'll be able control my little side notes along the way. Bare with me.

    The role that really put Timothee in the main focus of Hollywood was Call Me by Your Name. Although this isn't my favorite role of his, it's a stunning performance. With this role, he developed the reputation of being able to be a simple but powerful actor. The chemistry he has with both Marzia and Oliver grows at a different, unique pace for each partner, but somehow, he connects them throughout his performance enough to let the audience be able to compare and contrast the love in each relationship. He really makes Elio so vulnerable and relatable in almost every aspect a character can be vulnerable and relatable. We see his first real love affair, his first real heart break, his growing realization of his parents as people, his newly realized joy and freedom as an adult. And how amazing an opportunity for your first big breakout role?! And he truly knocks it out of the ballpark.

    After the success of Call Me By Your Name, Timothee was seen in Greta Gerwig's (heart eyes) debut film Lady Bird. Although his role was not as big, he plays a very comedically serious high school man whore named Kyle (and I must say, he is SO ATTRACTIVE in this role. Is Kyle an asshole? Yes. Would I date him even though I know he's emotionally bad for me? Probably.) He is the perfect addition to Gerwig's very real depictions of the stresses and excitements that come with being a high school teenager. I think almost every teenage girl relates to Lady Bird in one aspect or another; and if she's falling for a bad boy Timothee Chalemet, I've definitely fallen for a bad boy Timothee Chalamet character in my own life. He makes Kyle emotional enough to seem human but rigid enough to seem a ridiculous asshole. The range is real.

    With two successful mainstream movies containing two noticeably big roles under his belt, Timothee starred in one of my favorite roles of his: Nick in Beautiful Boy. Along the lines of gravity that were needed to play Elio in Call Me by Your Name, Timothee's performance of Nick has a simple agony behind it that heightens his relationships throughout the movie. We see such high highs and lows lows in this performance, and I think this role, more than Elio, really shows the elasticity and limits of Timothee's acting. And, unlike Elio, Nick is a role that is based off of a real person. That brings a whole separate set of pressures that come with accurately portraying someone's life story. And he does it a very moving way. 

    Then along came the 2019 Timmy Trio Movies: A Rainy Day in New York, The King, and Little Women. I've seen all of these films multiple times and WOW. The change of maturity and range in Timothee's performance throughout all three of these movies is so prevalent and well done. A Rainy Day in New York is much more of your classic musical leading man role. His performance in that movie (but mainly it's just the movie itself) doesn't have as much weight and impact as some of his other roles, but it is still polished. He also steps out of his comfort zone by singing and substantial amount in this movie. And I love that trend in all of his movies: each of them requires something new of Timothee that if you are able to watch his entire repetoire, you can see his skillsets expand. It's fascinating (at least for someone who loves analyzing actors). 

    The King gave me chills. While it's not usually my kind of movie (and was almost hard to watch at times), Timothee brought a lot of power to this role that we haven't previously seen from him. The Victorian child was truly showing us the process of becoming a leader in the eyes of a someone who doesn't want to be a leader (which can be extremely relatable). It's especially hard when you not only have to be a leader offscreen, but a leader on screen. And frankly, I think he tackled that task with lots of grace.

    And finally, the most romantic of his roles (in my eyes), Little Women. Like I said earlier (and I will live by this statement), it is harder to play real people; and it is certainly even harder to play beloved fictional characters; and it is even harder than that to play fictional characters that have been adapted by other people multiple times. Why? Because as long as the audience members have some sort of already formed opinion about the work or the character (whether it's extensive or not), no matter what you do as an actor, you will not meet the expectations set by the audience as the character. There are too many different thoughts too strongly held by too many people that you won't be able to please everyone. But somehow, that philosophy still attracts people to reimagine works. And on top of all that, it can be difficult to find your own voice (as an actor) amidst the many other adaptations and expectations set by everyone around you.

    But even amidst all this hardship, Timothee still comes out the other end with a wonderful performance. In my eyes, he embodies a pretty damn perfect Laurie. He's charismatic and friendly, lost and gentle. He's suppose to be a twin flame of Jo, but a more open minded and vulnerable character. There are so many different dimensions to Laurie, and not only does Greta Gerwig (heart eyes) give Laurie the space in scenes to mature in front of our eyes, but Timothee makes a point to show Laurie's maturity through the journey from childhood through adulthood. And with this newfound maturity found in Laurie (that totally doesn't feel artificial compared to the 1994 movie), we can see the true reasoning behind the fateful engagement between Laurie and Amy (trust me, I'm going to write a whole blog about Jo and Laurie and Amy.. stay tuned I promise).

    And with all that, we prove Timothee's range! You can see the wonderful hard work he puts into each one of his roles, and it truly is spectacular! And it's funny, this is only the beginning of his career. There's so much that has been proven by his work, and there's so much more for him to accomplish.

    Next on tap for Timothee is The French Dispatch and Dune, both coming out on October 22nd, 2021. While I'm more excited to see The French Dispatch as a whole movie, I think Timothee will really shine in Dune. It's his first time working as a true action, sci fi leading man. I think this role will really encapsulate a bunch of different skills Timothee has shown us through multiple movies. However, Dune does have a big following from its book lovers and, with the flop of the previous adaptation, I think there is a lot of very high expectations for all aspects of this movie.

    And, of course, news is just starting to break the Willy Wonka prequel for Timmy's Wonka. Oh boy... To be frank? I'm not sure how I feel about this movie. It's not the kind of plot I would want first when thinking of movies that need to happen ASAP. And as a musical? Again, I love Timothee and the full commitment he puts towards every role, but he is just not the best singer. And why is he young Willy Wonka? I don't really see the resemblance (I hate to break it to you all).. Maybe ask me again in six or seven months when more information has dropped. I'm sure I'll change my mind. And also, why does Hollywood keeps producing movie musicals without bringing in professional actors who specialize in musicals? I'm not sure. But again, that's another blog for another month.

    So. If you didn't know who Timothee Chalamet was before this blog, I'm sure you have more than enough information to know who he is now. Pretty cool dude, right? I'm excited to see the work he creates in the coming year and a half but especially for the rest of his career. And I encourage everyone who hasn't seen more than one or two movies of his work is to complete the watch of his repertoire! It's pretty impressive and extremely diverse. 

Love you Timmy Tim! Statistics... statistics (yuh yuh)...