Timothée Chalamet has received criticism from opera singers and ballet dancers on social media for his claim that "no one cares about" those art forms in modern times
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Chalamet made that comment while discussing his desire to preserve widespread popularity of the moviegoing experience during a filmed Feb. 24 discussion with Matthew McConaughey in Texas
"I just lost 14 cents in viewership. I just took shots for no reason," Chalamet said immediately after bringing up ballet and opera's perceived lack of popularity
Timothée Chalametis facing some heat for saying "no one cares" about ballet and opera during hisVarietyand CNN town hallwithMatthew McConaughey.
Chalamet, 30, and hisInterstellarcostar, 56, reunited for a conversation in front of an audience at the University of Texas at Austin on Feb. 24. During that discussion, Chalamet and McConaughey talked about the current trend of movies placing "their biggest action set pieces up front," referencing Matt Damon's recent similarcomments.
Chalamet listed Netflix's 2025Frankensteinadaptation as an example of a popular movie that "pulled people in" without "extraordinarily fast" pacing.
"It does take you having to wave a flag of, 'Hey, this is a serious movie,' or something, and some people do want to be entertained and quickly," theOscar-nominated actorsaid. "I'm really right in the middle, Matthew. I admire people, and I've done it myself, who go on a talk show and say, 'Hey, we've got to keep movie theaters alive, we've gotta keep this genre alive,' and another part of me feels like if people want to see it, likeBarbie, likeOppenheimer, they're going to go see it and go out of their way to be loud and proud about it."
"I don't want to be working in ballet, or opera, or things where it's like, 'Hey, keep this thing alive, even though like no one cares about this anymore.' All respect to all the ballet and opera people out there," Chalamet added, to laughter from the crowd.
Chalamet immediately recognized that his comments could be seen as disparaging. "I just lost 14 cents in viewership," he said with a laugh. "I just took shots for no reason."
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Sure enough, some opera and ballet performers responded negatively to Chalamet's comments in the nine days since the discussion aired.Isabelle Leonard, aGrammy Award-winning opera singer, wrote in a comment on the video that she felt "shocked that someone so seemingly successful can be so ineloquent and narrow minded in his views about art while considering himself as artist as I would only imagine one would as an actor."
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"what a disappointing take,"Deepa Johnny, aCanadian mezzo-soprano opera singer, wrote in her own comment. "There is nothing more impressive than the magic of live theatre, ballet and opera. We should be trying to uplift these art forms, these artists and come together across disciplines to do that. The impact of these mediums are long lasting and life changing."
A Brazilian ballet dancer namedVictor Caixetaalso wrote in response to the video that ballet and opera "have survived for centuries." "Let's see if your movies are still being watched in 300 years," he added.
"Ballet and Opera, my friend… Some things deserve to exist. Go see some of that,"Thiago Fragoso, a popular Brazilian actor and singer, also wrote in a comment onVariety's Instagram video.
Chalamet is nominated at the upcoming Academy Awards for his performance inMarty Supreme.
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