The Internet’s Relationship With Timothée Chalamet
Celebrity branding goes beyond the movies someone stars in or the clothes they wear. It is also about the personality audiences associate with them. For Chalamet, his earlier roles helped establish an image that fans connected with. Through his films, interviews and social media edits, people developed their own ideas about who he was.
I remember seeing Timothée Chalamet in films like Lady Bird and Little Women, but it was his more emotional roles in Call Me by Your Name and Beautiful Boy that helped shape the image many of his fans associate with him. Before becoming the actor everyone knows today, Chalamet had a statistics rap song for a school project and performed Nicki Minaj’s “Roman’s Revenge” at a school talent show. When these clips resurfaced, they showed a more authentic, humorous and passionate side of him that fans loved.
Recently, I’ve noticed people saying they miss the old Timothée on social media. One of the first major shifts I noticed was when he began dating Kylie Jenner in 2023. Some fans were surprised by the relationship because they saw him as an artsy, low-key actor, while Jenner was known for her reality TV fame and glamorous lifestyle. As they appeared together at award shows, fans debated their relationship and even questioned whether it was a PR stunt. For some, the relationship seemed different from the image of Chalamet they had grown attached to.
His comments about ballet and opera have added to the conversation. During a CNN-Variety town hall interview with actor Matthew McConaughey, Chalamet discussed the pressure to keep movie theaters alive. He compared the situation to ballet and opera, saying, “And I don’t want to be working in ballet or opera, or things where it’s like, ‘Hey, keep this thing alive.’ Even though it’s like, no one cares about this anymore,” according to Variety. His remarks sparked criticism from people in the ballet and opera communities and from his fan base.
In a Substack article titled “You’re Not Mad About the Ballet and Opera Comment. You’re Mad Timothée Chalamet Said It,” user @tonniwrites explains why people may have reacted so strongly to Chalamet’s comments. The writer describes him as “the goofy drama kid with a heart of gold,” reflecting the image many fans have of him. The post discusses parasocial relationships, which can happen when fans feel connected to a celebrity they don’t personally know. When a celebrity says something that doesn’t match the image fans have of them, it can leave people feeling surprised or disappointed.
This is what makes celebrity image changes so interesting. Fans can become attached to a version of someone we see online, even though that version only shows a small part of who they are. When a celebrity’s image changes, it can feel like we are losing someone we never really knew in the first place. But has he really changed, or have we just started seeing him differently?
So, the next time someone says they miss the old Timothée, maybe it is worth thinking aboutwhat they actually miss. Maybe fans don’t actually miss the old Timothée Chalamet. They miss the idea of him they created in their own minds.
Bio: Daisy Aguinada is a journalism and public relations student at CSUN and an editor for The Daily Sundial, where she works on the newsletter and news coverage. She enjoys music and entertainment and is fascinated by what happens behind the scenes in the music industry. She hopes to pursue a career in public relations, ideally working with a talent agency or record label.