Timothee Chalamet (Wikipedia)
Timothee Chalamet is an American actor. He began his acting career in short films, before appearing in the television drama series Homeland in 2012. Two years later, he made his feature film debut in the drama Men, Women & Children and subsequently appeared in Christopher Nolan‘s science-fiction film Interstellar.
In 2017, Chalamet gained wider recognition for his supporting roles in the coming-of-age film Lady Bird and the western Hostiles, and for his lead role in Luca Guadagnino‘s romantic drama Call Me by Your Name. The latter earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor, making him the third-youngest nominee in the category. The following year, he portrayed a drug-addicted teenager in the drama Beautiful Boy, for which he received a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.
On stage, Chalamet has starred in John Patrick Shanley‘s autobiographical play Prodigal Son, for which he was nominated for a Drama League Award and won a Lucille Lortel Award.
Chalamet was born on December 27, 1995 in New York City‘s Manhattan borough and grew up in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood. His parents are Nicole Flender, a real estate broker and former Broadway dancer, and Marc Chalamet, an editor for U.N.I.C.E.F.
Chalamet’s older sister, Pauline (born 1992), is an actress and lives in Paris. Chalamet’s maternal uncle is filmmaker Rodman Flender, his maternal aunt is television producer and writer Amy Lippman, his maternal grandfather was screenwriter Harold Flender, and his maternal grandmother, Enid Flender (née Rodman), is a former Broadway dancer.
Chalamet attended Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in New York City
Growing up, Chalamet spent summers in Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, a small French village two hours away from Lyon, at the home of his paternal grandparents. His paternal grandmother, who had moved to France, was originally Canadian. Chalamet stated that his time in France led to cross-cultural identity issues. ‘Once I was there, I became the French version of myself,” he told La Presse. “I was completely imbued with the culture, and I even dreamed in French.” His childhood dream was to become a professional soccer player, “I was a coach at a soccer camp in France. I coached six to ten-year-olds when I was around thirteen.”
Chalamet attended PS 87 William T. Sherman School for elementary school, and later the selective Delta program at MS 54 Booker T. Washington Middle School, which he described as a “miserable three years” due to the lack of a creative outlet within the school’s academically rigorous environment. His acceptance into Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts was a turning point in his appreciation for acting. He stated, “I had some excellent teachers and really fell in love with it. I saw that it could be and should be treated as a craft”. Harry Shifman, his sophomore year drama teacher at LaGuardia, was so impressed by his audition that he insisted on Chalamet’s acceptance into the school even though he had been rejected in the interview, saying “I gave him the highest score I’ve ever given a kid auditioning.” He graduated in 2013 and starred in school musicals as Emcee in Cabaret and Oscar Lindquist in Sweet Charity. He is also a YoungArts alumnus.
After high school, Chalamet attended Columbia University for one year, majoring in cultural anthropology. He later transferred to New York University‘s Gallatin School of Individualized Study to pursue his acting career more freely.