Every Timothée Chalamet Movie, Ranked
With 'Dune: Part Two' finally in theaters, here are Chalamet’s performances ranked from worst to best.
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We're almost as excited as Javier Bardem to report: the Lisan al Gaib is finally here. After a lengthy delay, Dune: Part Two is in theaters, the limited edition fleshlight popcorn bucket is available to purchase, and most importantly, Timothée Chalamet is back on the big screen as Paul Atreides.
At 28 years old, the New York City-born star has already made a massive impact on the Hollywood landscape. An undeniable leading man for a new generation, he's also a style icon—and decidedly not a rapper. (Unless you ask Wonka director Paul King, who reportedly chose Lil Timmy Tim for the lead role in his musical after seeing the actor's childhood rap videos). In the past few years, buzzy releases have put Chalamet front and center, but he had a few roles in blockbuster films (like 2014's Interstellar) before his 2017 breakout year, which saw him in both Luca Guadagnino’s Call Me By Your Name and Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird. Since then, he’s worked with the biggest names in the business, from Wes Anderson in The French Dispatch to Christopher Nolan in Interstellar—and he's only getting busier.
Hold on to your purple top hats—here are Chalamet’s performances ranked from worst to best.
14. A Rainy Day in New York
Originally shelved by it’s U.S. distributor Amazon Studios after Dylan Farrow’s allegations against Woody Allen resurfaced in 2019, A Rainy Day in New York is a classic Allen film in that it follows a young girl enthralled and entranced by an older man. It falls to the bottom of the list for obvious reasons. Even a stellar cast including Elle Fanning, Selena Gomez, Liev Schreiber, Jude Law, and of course, Timothée Chalamet, cannot revive this tired, pretentious film.
13. Love the Coopers
This corny and terrible 2015 Christmas movie starring Diane Keaton, Ed Helms, Olivia Wilde, and Amanda Seyfried, in which Chalamet portrays a stereotypical angry, horny teenager named Charlie, is still better than Woody Allen’s A Rainy Day in New York.
12. Hot Summer Nights
Hot Summer Nights is a coming-of-age drama, except this time there’s crime, drugs, and murder. The stylized 2018 A24 film with a limited theatrical release sees Chalamet as a young teenager sent to Cape Cod to live with his aunt for the summer, where he gets caught up selling weed. Things take a dark and deadly turn, though, Spring Breakers-style, and Chalamet’s performance as the awkward kid-turned-drug lord is a fine one in a film without much purposeful direction.
11. The King
The King is a 2019 Netflix film starring a variety of Timothée Chalamet haircuts. He plays Prince Hal, who ascends to the throne as King Henry V in the epic war film adapted loosely from Shakespeare’s Henriad. Chalamet delivers a balanced performance between youth and maturity in the role of Henry V, as he reluctantly grapples with his Kingly fate, politics, and newfound power. It’s essentially another coming-of-age story (sensing a theme here) just with a grandiose, bloody, Medieval change of scenery.
10. The French Dispatch
While Wes Anderson’s Pandemic-delayed film was largely disappointing—moments of charm and comedy couldn’t offset the segmented, aimless storyline—Chalamet’s performance as Zeffirelli was a high point. His quirky, funny performance as the student revolutionary leader offered no clues that he’s an Anderson film first-timer, delivering some of the most memorable one-liners in his role opposite Frances McDormand.
9. Beautiful Boy
Starring opposite Steve Carrell in this 2018 father-son biographical drama based on two memoirs, Chalamet showcases his serious acting chops. In Beautiful Boy, he portrays Nic, a writer’s son who becomes addicted to methamphetamines, recovering and relapsing countless times over the years. Chalamet offers a performance that is gut-wrenching and moving, despite criticism of the film being a privileged look at addiction.
8. Interstellar
There are no small roles, only small actors. In 2014 blockbuster Interstellar, a 19-year-old Chalamet plays Young Tom, the counterpart to Casey Affleck’s (Old) Tom. A minor character, he holds his own in a cast of greats, acting alongside Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, John Lithgow, Ellen Burstyn, and Michael Caine, to name a few. Not a bad first movie role to land.
7. Wonka
Look, in no world am I trying to argue that Wonka is a better movie than Interstellar. But this is a ranking of Timmy's roles specifically—and Wonka is a big one. Should it have been a musical? Probably not, although it turns out Timmy can sing just fine! I may have even shed a tear during his rendition of "Pure Imagination." The film's original songs were its weakest link, with lyrics bizarre enough to jolt a viewer straight out of Wonka's chocolatey world and into thoughts like: Damn, I can't believe Kylie Jenner sat and smiled along to this in public. (Another moment I thought about Kylie was when we watched Timothée milk a giraffe. I probably thought about Kylie more than I should have.) But music and CGI giraffe aside, Chalamet's performance as Wonka was heartfelt and charming, and though I was apprehensive about a prequel, the plot was engaging and plenty of fun. Olivia Colman and Hugh Grant played memorable foils to Wonka’s chocolate dreams, and though I will forever wonder why they chose to name the other lead character Noodle, I would watch Wonka again. I wonder if Kylie would say the same.
6. Lady Bird
In his first role opposite Saoirse Ronan, Chalamet portrays a boyfriend of the titular Lady Bird in Greta Gerwig’s 2017 solo directorial debut. His character Kyle is a high school boy in a band who corrects Lady Bird’s pronunciation of said band’s name in their first ever interaction and also says “hella”—so, insufferable—which Chalamet does with comedic skill, effortlessly and naturally.
5. Bones and All
If you're looking to read something thoughtful and measured about Luca Guadagnino’s new cannibal movie, I highly recommend our review of the film. For me, Bones and All—while thrilling and romantic and deeply human—was a bit too gory. Imagine if A24 had produced the Twilight films. Timothée Chalamet offers a dark, vulnerable, sexy performance as Lee, and as always, has beautiful chemistry with his co-star, Taylor Russell. They’ll really have you rooting for their young cannibal love. Still, I will never watch this movie again, as I prefer to drift to sleep at night without the image of humans eating human flesh in my brain, but I’ll do anything once for my boy Timmy. And I am glad I saw Bones and All.
4. Dune
When it landed in theaters, we heralded Dune as the best sci-fi film of the decade. And while the breathtaking set design, high-stakes conflict, and compelling characters surely factor into that, it’s in no small part due to the intense, involved performance of Chalamet as its protagonist, Paul Atreides. As we know, Timmy is no stranger to a coming-of-age arc, but as Paul must rise to the occasion when the House of Atreides comes under attack, it is as if Chalamet himself has finally harnessed his full power and footing as a leading man.
3. Little Women
Timothée Chalamet, who clocks in at 5'10 and approximately 96 pounds, is a little man (sorry to men on dating apps everywhere), which is fitting for his role in Greta Gerwig’s 2019 Little Women. He plays Laurie, a neighbor of the March family who falls in love with Saoirse Ronan’s Jo, and then later settles for Florence Pugh’s Amy when Jo rejects him. He delivers a charming, stand-out performance in a delightful ensemble film, and proves, once again, that he can have chemistry with anything that breathes. (That is not to say that either Ronan or Pugh is hard to create chemistry with, just that I believe he could convincingly flirt with a rock if need be.)
2. Dune: Part Two
Timmy has Dune'd it again (sorry), but even better this time around. Paul Atriedes’s journey from timid, humble beginnings among the Fremen to ultimately becoming their Lisan al Gaib is a big one. But the actor pulls it off meticulously and methodically. His chemistry with Zendaya? Impeccable. His sandwalking? Absolutely insane. But man, can this guy ride a worm. They aren't calling the Dune cast the next generation of movie stars for nothing—and Chalamet is the leader of the pack.
1. Call Me By Your Name
You’ll have to suspend disbelief about his scene partner, but Chalamet’s emotional performance in coming-of-age film Call Me By Your Name is deeply moving. He plays Elio, a young man who discovers his identity and sexuality when he meets Oliver, a university student who comes to help his professor father in Italy for the summer. His raw performance conveys both the rush of first love and the unparalleled, earth-shattering pain of teenage heartbreak, and earned him a well-deserved Oscar nomination for Best Actor which, at 22 years old, made him the third-youngest ever nominee for the award.
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