Actor Timothee Chalamet is a notable figure throughout the industry. First starring in indie films like ‘Lady Bird’ and ‘Miss Stevens’, he’s grown into blockbuster films from ‘Dune’ to ‘A Complete Unknown’, his latest movie that has secured his status as a star. His recent endeavors on the entertaining press tour for the Bob Dylan biopic generated positive comments as individuals shared their enjoyment over his humorous actions.
Unusual for an actor to promote their film this way, Chalamet brings an energy to it that sparks the question of whether it is better to boost one’s virality through different media sources/outlets as opposed to the normalized standard interviews. Let’s take a deeper look at how he achieves this.
The first thing that comes to mind along his journey is the memorable way he gave a nod to Bob Dylan through his red carpet looks. Each one showcases a different aspect of the musician that reminds us that he’s a fan who’s respectfully trying to tell a story, not overpower it.
His first look (left) featured a black leather jacket- similar to what Dylan wore- that was decorated with pins and sunglasses that were covered with the words “Bob Dylan”. Inside his pocket was a Beyblade, a calling to his teenage roots as a gamer and collector.
A pair of slim fitted glasses (largely compared to Dylan’s Ray-Bans’) accompanied a solid black outfit (bottom right), an obvious gesture to Dylan’s classic looks throughout the mid-60s.
His most recognized appearance was the famed scarf, flannel, and hat (top right) cosplay that Chalamet copied and wore a blonde wig with. This unique entrance was spread online, some confusion over what he was alluding to, but fans got the reference.
Although the actor’s attire was eccentric and wacky it highlighted his playfulness and ability to honor the artist by making it feel like a piece of him was there at the premieres. But the actor didn’t stop there. He appeared with influencers Britany Broski and Theo Von on their podcasts.
He stopped by This Past Weekend, a podcast hosted by standup comedian Theo Von, where he covered topics relating to ‘A Complete Unknown’ and his personal life.
The star is admittedly open about his pride for the work he put into the movie and how deep he went into the role, revealing “..I’ve never had my phone off the entire movie [before]. I wanted to do a great job. I want to feel that grit”. He confesses that he’s never promoted a film to this extent before, yet he feels it deserves the hype.
Broski occasionally comments about a new celebrity crush she has on her podcast. Her street interview skit called Broski’s Report centered Chalamet in an alley posing as a random person who answered questions.
This interview had quick one-liners as they talked about pop-culture memes and references, one where he jokes “[I] only got SoundCloud recently.. the budget was approved, Dune II did well”.
Following, short clips from this were posted all over social media as fans had nothing but funny things to say about how much they didn’t know they needed this collaboration.
Lastly, he acquired new fans by sharing his knowledge of college football. He has always been a fan of the sport and visited the University of Minnesota- the state where Bob Dylan grew up. There, he attended a game and visited the band where they played a song from the singer’s discography.
Later he attended ESPN’s College GameDay where he reunited with co-star Matthew McConaughey and spoke on TV about his predictions and stats. Sports fans were shocked to discover they doubted him and that Chalamet had a real talent for sports broadcasting.
He replied to their feedback with “…then in the promotional run, I’ll be able to pivot and go on ESPN or any sportscasting thing ‘cause, you know, acting’s not always a reliable gig.”
Given the actor’s history with interviews, these events are a perfect way the switch things up. He continues to make the world curious about the next weird thing he’ll do, and he does it all for fun. He’s not afraid to receive criticism no matter what kind and is courageous enough to help expand views on what is considered normalized in the film and entertainment industry.