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Timothée Chalamet Recalls Being Asked To 'Put On Weight' For Breaking Into Blockbuster Roles: 'You Don’t Have The Right Body'
Timothée Chalamet has recently opened up about how an agent asked him to bulk up to get better opportunities in Hollywood.
Timothée Chalamet recently opened up to Zane Lowe about how his appearance limited his opportunities in Hollywood. While promoting his latest project, a Bob Dylan biopic titled A Complete Unknown, Chalamet told Lowe that he has at times felt pigeonholed, something he thinks he could relate to from the story of Dylan's life.
With the experience gained in the acting field, Chalamet did not forget a story from the time of his youth when representatives of his agency advised him to bulk up to land better roles in Hollywood. He recounted in the past that when he was just starting out, he tried out at casting for well-known franchises like The Maze Runner and Divergent and would often be given feedback based on his body.
Regardless of the agent’s suggestion not coming off as harsh, there was a hint of body-shaming concerning Hollywood body standards. Recalling the anecdote, the Little Women star said, "If I auditioned for The Maze Runner or Divergent, things of that variety that were popping when I was coming up, the feedback was always, ‘Oh, you don’t have the right body.'"
Chalamet continued, "I had an agent that called me and said, ‘You got to put on weight,’ basically, not aggressively, but you know." The advice seemed off to him back then, but he now understands it helped him understand the struggles faced by Dylan early in his career.
Eventually, he paved the way for himself through successful indie films like Beautiful Boy, Lady Bird, and more, which were well received by the critics. With the success of movies like Call Me By Your Name and Little Women, Chalamet didn't have to rely on stereotypical big movie roles to break out.
The Marty Supreme star reflected on what Dylan might have had to go through, who initially wanted to be a rock ‘n’ roll star, saying, "I found my way into these very personalized movies. For [Dylan], it was folk music. He couldn’t keep a rock ‘n’ roll band because they would all get hired by other kids that had more money, literally, in Minnesota. So for me, it was finding a very personal style of movie."
Today Timothée Chalamet’s career is booming and has made him a household name in Hollywood. He has received major leads in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune series and musical Wonka and an impressive personal box office gross of over 2.5 billion USD as per Deadline. A Complete Unknown, a Bob Dylan biopic directed by James Mangold, arrives on Christmas Day.
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