Actor Timothee Chalamet taken to task over opera, ballet dig

Chalamet was discussing whether the advent of streaming will spell doom for cinemas. Read more at straitstimes.com.

NEW YORK - Oscar Best Actor nominee Timothee Chalamet is the frontrunner to take home the golden statuette for sports drama Marty Supreme (2025), but the 30-year-old definitely has not won fans in the ballet and opera worlds.

In a town hall discussion late in February with Oscar Best Actor winner Matthew McConaughey hosted by CNN and Variety, Chalamet was discussing the future of movie theatres and whether the advent of streaming will spell doom for cinemas.

“If people want to see it – like Barbie, like Oppenheimer – they’re going to go see it and go out of their way to be loud and proud about it,” Chalamet said.

“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 like no one cares about this anymore.’ All respect to the ballet and opera people out there,” he added, to laughs from the audience. “I just took shots for no reason.”

The world’s opera and ballet companies were not entertained.

In the French-American actor’s native New York, the Metropolitan Opera posted a backstage video with his quote plastered across it and the caption: “This one’s for you, @tchalamet...”