Timothée Chalamet has never been shy about fame, and now he’s letting the world know his recent publicity stunts are far from a marketing ploy. At a recent Q&A event held at the Prince Charles Cinema in London, the Oscar-nominated actor let slip that he personally shelled out six figures for his musical number on Saturday Night Live.
Actor confirms spending six figures on SNL appearance
Speaking candidly about his recent red-carpet antics, Chalamet let the world know his unorthodox appearances are far from a marketing ploy. “Here’s the thing—this risks killing any mystery around it, but I really don’t look at it as promotion or marketing. I see myself as an artist expanding, and certainly, the Zoom had a little bit of satire to it, but the initial video in the glass box, those [ping-pong ball] heads, I feel like I’m expressing myself. You know, a lot of people want to be told what to say, how to say it, and where to stand—I’m talking on the acting front. Also, people don’t want to misstep. I feel like I’ve got the keys, I’ve got the right attitude, I’ve got the juice.”
It was most apparent during his SNL appearance in relation to the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown. Chalamet related how he learned that Michaels had rejected his initial pitch of wanting to perform music in addition to hosting SNL. He said he refused to appear unless he could do both, going so far as to cover the costs himself in order to make it happen. “I spent over six figures out of my pocket to do the ‘SNL’ performance, Lorne Michaels said. Hey, do you want to host ‘SNL’?’ I said, ‘Yeah, can I do the music?’ He’s like, ‘No.’ I said, ‘Alright, I’m not doing it.’ He said, ‘OK, do the music.’ But I refused to take no for an answer,” he said, emphasizing his point that taking creative risks is much more important to him than playing it safe.
The 30-year-old has recently mentioned that he’s got 4 projects in development at the moment. “They’re all radically different, but they’re awesome.“
The young actor also spoke of how this approach was evident in Marty Supreme, a film that surprisingly resonated with non-frequent moviegoers. Chalamet said this was his favorite response to his work, further emphasizing his point. As he waits for the results of his Best Actor Oscar nomination, Chalamet confessed that he indeed wants the award but not at the expense of gaining perspective. Awards for him are simply extensions of his work, but not definitions of it. With four new projects in the offing, Chalamet seems set to continue forging his own path in the world of cinema: ambitious, unfiltered, and unapologetically personal.
