To me, Timothée Chalamet has a very strong claim to be the next big super star actor, competing only (maybe) with actors Jacob Elordi and Drew Starkey.
To determine this, I want to compare Timothée Chalamet to who I think defines our generations’ actor superstar, Leonardo DiCaprio.
I am a very big fan of Chalamet’s work; outside of his acting roles, he is an insanely likable guy. Not only is he a New York Knicks fan, he’s dating Kylie Jenner. I mean, come on.
Compared to Chalamet’s work, I feel less connected overall to DiCaprio’s roles. While I do think he is a great actor and has acted almost perfectly in every role, I don’t feel as strongly attached to him as much as Chalamet. And I think the biggest reason for that is the age difference. Chalamet could potentially become our Leonardo.
I want to compare and contrast both of their acting using Chalamet’s work in “Dune” and DiCaprio’s work in “One Battle After Another.”
Chalamet steps into a very big franchise in “Dune,” starring as the lead character, Paul Atreides. A little background on “Dune” is that it’s based off a novel and Paul Atreides is trying to navigate his destiny as a military leader. I think Chalamet did an insane job of displaying emotion throughout the film.
I am not avid movie watcher nor usually do I pay close attention to how an actor acts, but I couldn’t help but notice the phenomenal job he did through the film. He did an amazing job portraying the character Paul Atreides. I don’t think it’s easy at all to portray a character originally from a book, and Chalamet made his name almost synonymous with Paul Atreides.
“One Battle After Another,” DiCaprio’s latest movie, is also one of his best for me. From start to finish he showed real raw human emotion. At multiple times in the movie, I was fearing for his life and he got me so immersed in the movie with his acting.
I do see a lot of similarities between the two in their acting styles. Chalamet has starred in his fair share of movies and has played a variety of different roles, as has DiCaprio. Some actors can only play one role well across multiple movies, but I think these two specifically can fit into almost any storyline and any role. They both have an almost exclusive ability to understand the characters they are playing and have an uncanny ability to morph into them.
I think as an actor you usually play one role where people know you for. The actors I mentioned earlier, Jacob Elordi and Drew Starkey, are known for their roles in “Euphoria” and “Outer Banks,” respectively. But Timothée Chalamet can be known for a plethora of roles he’s played, whether that be “Dune,” “Wonka” or “Call Me By Your Name.” DiCaprio can say the same obviously for way more movies, but it’s the same. Throughout DiCaprio’s generation you have other big names like Robert Downey Jr. who is basically Ironman.
Chalamet, especially if he continues this career path of playing major roles in movies, is one major role away from being labelled as the next superstar actor, and maybe he can eventually surpass Leonardo DiCaprio, however unlikely it sounds. I’m excited to see what he brings to the table in his upcoming film, “Marty Supreme” coming out this Christmas, and if it will finally land him his award for best actor.
