Why is Hollywood turning on Timothee Chalamet?

0:02Sky News, the full story first.

0:10Timothy Chalamet is one of the favourites to win Best Actor at this weekend's Oscars, but it's his behaviour off-screen that's got people talking. This is why.

0:34Hi everyone, Neil here and we thought given all the doom and gloom around we'd take advantage of the Oscars this weekend and focus on one of the hopefuls for Best Actor more on that in just a moment but we are now two weeks into this brand new podcast and we need to say thanks for all your emails we've had comments and questions even ideas for episodes the email address for all of those why at sky.uk Jackie, she wants an episode explaining why the American midterms are so important. Jackie, guess what? We're actually going to do it. We're going to get James or Martha or Mark from the Sky News Trump 100 podcast on very soon.

1:14And lots of you getting in touch with questions for Professor Michael Clarke after he discussed the Iran war. We're going to get Michael back to answer some of those soon. Quite a few of your questions, in fact, about HMS Dragon. If you want to ask something of Michael, the internet's favourite defence expert, why at Sky.uk. We've also had quite a few messages from people stuck in the Middle East as well. I hope you've made it back by now. And we've got to mention Sandra, the episode on the UK's involvement in Iran. That was her first ever podcast. Welcome to the World of Pods, Sandra. Today, though, we're going to have a bit of escapism.

1:54And the Golden Globe goes to... Timothee Chalamet. Timothee Chalamet is undoubtedly one of the hottest properties in Hollywood right now. Wow. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart. I'm in a category with many greats. I look up to all of you. Thank you. He's nominated for Best Actor again, this time for his role in Marty Supreme. Hey, it's Marty Mauser. I'm in the Royal Suite. I saw you in the lobby yesterday. But it's his behaviour away from the silver screen that's been causing a bit of a stir. I don't want to be working in ballet or opera or, you know, things where it's like, hey, keep this thing alive, even though it's like no one cares about this anymore.

2:32Humble, he most definitely isn't. And that's a big problem in an industry that's powered by popularity. It's a movie about a ping-pong player, Neil. Well let's head straight to Los Angeles To the Oscars red carpet no less Admittedly it is under a bit of plastic Katie Spencer, our Arts and Entertainment correspondent Is on top of that plastic Katie, what's the mood like in Tinseltown at this time of year? I'm on top of the plastic carpet It's not just because they don't trust me with my mucky feet on the carpet It's everyone has to abide by these rules And yes, if you hear over the next few minutes Banging and hammering and what have you is because they are putting the final preparations in place ahead of the biggest weekend that there is in this city.

3:17Hollywood, of course, all revolves around moviemaking. They love this weekend. They put their heart and soul into celebrating moviemaking over the course of this weekend. We only got here yesterday and got off the plane, but you literally set foot out of the airport and the town just is absolutely buzzing. We're here to talk about one of the favourites for the Best Actor category. Tell me just a little bit more about him because he's actually had a number of Oscar nominations, hasn't he? He's had a number of award nominations across the board, but he's here for his film Marty Supreme. Marty Supreme, if you haven't watched it, it is two and a half hours of absolute stress.

3:53He plays a budding ping-pong champion who wants to travel to various different countries around the world to take part in competitive ping-pong games. There's the drools going off behind me, as you can hear at the moment. It's a hell of a role. He's spent years actually mastering table tennis. He's brilliant in it. He's thoroughly deserving the plaudits that he's got for this role because he is arguably one of his generation's finest actors that really does commit to any role that he takes on. Last year he was nominated for Best Actor for playing Bob Dylan, again a role that he spent years studying how to play the guitar and to sing like Bob Dylan.

4:32He just is extraordinary and he definitely does deserve to be one of the frontrunners this year. My first encounter with Timothee Chalamet was in a film called The King and I thought he was remarkable, from the accent to the screen presence and he was very young at that point as well. Undeniably, he is one of the most gifted actors that is out there at the moment. He deserves to win an Oscar. I think the trouble is, throughout the campaigning that has gone on since his nomination was announced this year, in a way it seems like now the sort of mood music sadly though has gone away from him being brilliantly talented and I suspect this might not be his year sadly.

5:12Katie you're gonna have to explain this one to me campaigning to get an Oscar I thought all you had to do was turn up on set read your lines you know be a decent actor get good returns in the box office or maybe a bit of critical acclaim and people would judge you fairly on the film itself you make it sound like a political campaign. I mean, yes, it is incredibly political. And actually, the studios spend many millions on awards campaigning. When the nominations are announced, it becomes less about the fact that you've done a brilliant performance and more about the narrative arc. There'll be money being poured into advertising, to billboards, to getting the conversation going, so that voting members who have a chance to actually commit to who is going to be this year's winner are talking about who's the frontrunner, who's the person that's going to be most deserving to win.

6:06So the reason studios spend many millions on feeding into the awards campaigning, it's because you have to basically try and sell what the narrative arc of so-and-so winning is. And in the case of Timothee Chalamet, it's the fact that he's been nominated for so many times and despite being this brilliant actor, delivering these standout performances that is the talent of his generation and arguably you could say that it is his time. But their awards campaign hasn't really gone to plan. OK, so let's pick up on that with Paula Froelich. She's senior story producer and on-air talent for NewsNation.

6:45She also runs the Inside Scoop on Substack. Paula, let's start with the controversy around this so-called campaign. to win the Best Acting Oscar for Marty Supreme. What exactly did he do? Yeah, well, I'm calling it BOG, the ballet opergate. At a sit-down with Matthew McConaughey in Austin, Texas, with CNN and Variety, he went on to say that, and I'm paraphrasing here, ballet is dead, no one cares about the opera or ballet, and he wants to work in a medium that people care about. Now, meanwhile, the funniest thing about this was Matthew McConaughey's face because it was glowing umber red. His face got harder and harder as Timothy kept digging his own grave.

7:31Also because, you know, everyone in Hollywood considers themselves an artist. Now, the problem here, Neil, is that it's not going to have any issue on Oscar voting because while that interview was done in February, it didn't randomly come out for some reason until March. so after the Oscar ballots had already been turned in. But this is kind of a, I would say, it's a well-known playbook for Timothee Chalamet. You know, in February, he did do another interview with a member of the Hollywood Foreign Press, Margaret Gardner, and how do I put this? It did not go well. He really came off sounding horrific.

8:12And, you know, it was so bad that the online comments were awful, and they got Margaret Gardner to pull down the interview entirely. Now, thankfully for us, interviews live forever if they are already put on the internet. So we did actually get some of the quotes. I have to read this to you. It says, it's been seven, eight years that I've been handing in really, really committed, top of the line performance. And I think it's important to say that. It's important to say that because of the discipline and work ethics that I bring to these movies. I don't want people to take that for granted. I don't want to take that for granted.

8:49it's really the best. It's a movie about a ping pong player, Neil. It's a movie by a narcissistic, egomaniacal ping pong player. Paula, just take us back to the beginning. I mean, what sort of background does Timothee Chalamet actually have? Where does he come from? So first of all, you have to understand that his parents are considered intellectuals, are considered well off. His mother has a lot of background in, ironically, the ballet and Broadway. And he went to LaGuardia High School, which is known as the school that fame was based on. He obviously majored in acting, but he also did also, again, ironically, have to take dance lessons.

9:37and when he was young, like we're talking 12 or 13, he started appearing in really popular series like Law and Order and Homeland and just from the very beginning, he was pegged as the golden child. So, you know, none of us are very surprised as to where this has gotten him now, if you know what I mean. Yeah, I do know exactly what you mean but in terms of at its most pure, I mean, his acting skill, I mean, this is a man who has been up for, what, up three, four Oscar nominations so far. Mm-hmm. Yes, four at this point. And no, no one's complaining about his skill because, I mean, he is actually a decent actor.

10:17Do I think he's the best? Not sure. However, he did kind of burst onto the scene, Lady Bird, a complete unknown. Really, people were taking notice almost immediately. And he even coined one of my favorite phrases, the sexy rodent look. What? All the magazines were like, Timothee Chalamet is so hot, but he kind of looks like a rodent, a hot rodent. And you're like, wow, this is insane. I never looked at Fievel and thought, you, you're the mouse for me. Let's put the kind of, the superficial to one side. I mean, if you had to compare him to any other kind of name in Hollywood, what comes to mind?

11:01Well, I think he'd kill me if I compared him to anyone other than a Daniel Day-Lewis or a Viola Davis, which is what he compares himself to. Listen, I've been in this industry a long time, Neil, and I've seen a lot of these guys. They're decent actors, but they let their ego get away with them. And it's really, really unfortunate because it can stall a career and the fans turn off and the fans are the ones who come out and spend money on you. I'm going to push back here on behalf of Timothy. I saw similar kind of sentiments being expressed by him when he was on the press tour for Marty Supreme.

11:38And some have suggested that what he was trying to do whilst doing the press junkets and everything else was inject a bit of the character of Marty Supreme, who was, as you say, narcissistic, incredibly driven, rather egotistical into the answers that he was giving in these press junkets. You don't buy it. no I don't buy it because look at the interviews he did for a complete unknown it's the same stuff look at his interviews he's always been like I'm the best I'm the greatest for Dune 3 a sci-fi fantasy movie he was like I really committed that role was sacred and you're like whoa wow I get it and I also understand that here in America a lot of us must graduate with a PhD and self-promotion.

12:25But this is really beyond the pale. And a complete unknown really hurt him because also of his behavior on set. So it's really the private is starting to match the public. Is this the sort of thing then that we should possibly expect though? We have seen Hollywood starlets and stars behaving in this manner in the past. They've had incredible success. They've been feted by the critics. He's got what more than 2 billion US attached to the films that he has made. I mean, isn't it allowed or expected to be just a wee bit arrogant in circumstances like this? I don't know. I think he should hold himself to a higher standard.

13:01But then again, I have always said at the same time, most people's maturity levels stop at the age they got famous. And he got famous around 14. So there we go. What effect do you think that this will have? I mean, what is the reaction been like from his peers in the industry? Oh, they're horrified. Everyone is horrified. It's like when somebody says the quiet part out loud and you're like, oh. And here's the deal. He may actually win that Oscar. That's great. The result will be a tepid applause. And I doubt he will win another. So you think that this will be something that this kind of public perception that is certainly solidified, is certainly hardened in recent weeks and months, that that is going to be significantly detrimental to his career in the future?

13:45Absolutely. If you look at polls right now, there's a poly market, for example. It's a betting market here in the States. Before Ballerina Opergate, he had a decent chance of winning. Now it's Michael B. Jordan, and it actually just shows public opinion. And then if you go to like YouGov, for example, his popularity is plummeting. And people are just kind of grossed off. And no offense, I get it. He led the sexy rodent movie. But now we've got Jacob Elordi. I just wonder about the world in which he works, the world in which he moves. I mean, he's with his celebrity partner. Kylie Jenner. There we go.

14:23There we go. So isn't he now operating in a slightly different class? He's more of a celebrity rather than an actor because of this very public relationship that he's got. She's a celebrity influencer, whatnot. And he is an actor or wants to be an actor. It's fine. A lot of people here are just kind of not just grossed out. They're a little like, I see what you're doing there. You bring Kylie out for the Golden Globes. You bring her to the BAFTAs, you lose. So now you bring your mother to the SAG Awards. You know, it just seems like it's really planned out to really test the Oscar voters, the Academy voters.

15:05But I know a lot of the Academy members. They will literally not vote for someone who annoys them. Really? It's that brutal? Oh, yes. If you look at some of the anonymous ballots, they're all saying, I find him annoying. Not I find the movie annoying, which for me it was, but I find him personally annoying. One of the most curious aspects of all this to me, Paula, is that he hasn't, as far as I can tell, he hasn't responded to any of this. He hasn't spoken out on the points about opera and ballet. You might have thought there could have been some kind of rebuttal from sources close to Timothee Chalamet.

15:42No, I think he's being told to just be quiet. Be quiet until the Oscars. Don't say a word. Anything you say right now, people are going to slam you for it. So just hope it settles down. Clearly, he hasn't been getting the best of advice. He has been performing in public in a manner that, you know, grates at the very least. If you were advising Timothee Chalamet right now, what would be your best guess as to the way in which he can get himself out of this mess? Here's what I would say. Just sit down and be quiet for a hot minute. But here's what his advisors are probably going to say. You know what?

16:19We've got this great idea. Why don't we put you in an operatic male version of the Black Swan? And that is likely what's going to happen. Well, we will see. Paula, it's been a pleasure chatting to you. Thanks so much for your time. Anytime, Neil. Thank you. Thanks to Paula, to Katie and of course to you for listening Remember, why at sky.uk That's the address to send your comments and suggestions into And I promise I really do actually read them all Give us a follow if you don't already Have a great weekend, we are back the other side Until then, take care