Though Oscar-nominated actor Timothee Chalamet has been acting for over a decade, he seemed like an overnight sensation after his breakthrough performance in 2017’s Call Me by Your Name. Chalamet’s success has continued in 2018 with Beautiful Boy, in which he plays a young man facing drug addiction. Chalamet is the youngest actor participating in The Hollywood Reporter‘s Actors Roundtable and, as such, speaks about struggles that are faced by young actors.
Though nearly all actors are into performing because of the art of it all, Chalamet admits that he, like many young actors, was worried about making enough from acting to pay his bills. He explains, “As a young actor, your first thought is: How can I be economically self-sufficient? The first time you get a check — People will be talking about the art, and you are like: ‘But wait a minute! I paid my bills. I am making a living.'”
When speaking about who he had learned about acting from, Chalamet speaks about lessons he learned in his high school experience. He explains, “I went to a drama high school in New York, so there were a number of teachers there I could point to. Harry Shifman [taught me about] the importance of failure; I was bad so many times in front of him, you get used to it. Acting is a remarkable dedication to being present in the moment. You watch actors go in the ‘control’ room sometimes and you are like, ‘Well, that’s not interesting to me as an audience member.’ But when you’re like, ‘Whoa, that guy doesn’t know what he is doing right now, he is just living it,’ that’s exciting.”
