Oscar nominee and Marty Supreme star Timothée Chalamet landed himself in hot water for his comments on opera and ballet. But Saturday Night Live took the furor directed at Chalamet to roast the actor with his own words.
In a Variety/CNN town hall with Matthew McConaughey at the University of Texas in February, Chalamet discussed the importance of preserving cinema and keeping people interested in buying tickets for new works.
“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,’” Chalamet said, chuckling to himself. “All respect to the ballet and opera people out there...”
The actor appeared to rethink his words immediately, saying, “I just lost 14 cents in viewership. I’m taking shots for no reason.” Chalamet, 30, then mimicked opera singing.
But the damage was done, as SNL’s Colin Jost pointed out.
The Weekend Update anchor said that Chalamet has been “criticized by major opera and ballet organizations after he said that no one cares about those art forms.”
“Chalamet,” Jost continued, “made the comment on a press tour for his movie about ping-pong.”
The actor is currently in the highly-anticipated Academy Awards race for his role in Josh Safdie’s Marty Supreme, in which he played the eponymous character in a quest to gain global recognition for the game of ping pong. Chalamet’s acclaimed performance has already earned him a Golden Globe and a Critics’ Choice Award for Best Actor.
But Chalamet’s comments, just days before the Oscars take place, have put the actor in the midst of controversy. Several artists, actors, and dancers delivered public responses to Chalamet’s insinuation that ballet and opera have reached irrelevance.
Actress Jamie Lee Curtis wrote in an Instagram story, “Why are any artists taking shots at any other artists?”
Ballet choreographer Kam Saunders, who performed in Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, simply wrote, “Yikes.”
But the response from global opera and ballet organizations is gaining the most traction.
The Paris Opera and New York’s Metropolitan Opera both nodded toward Chalamet’s remarks on social media, with facetious posts targeting the actor.
The U.K.’s Royal Ballet and Opera also called out the Willy Wonka actor, writing in an explosive post, “Every night at the Royal Opera House, thousands of people gather for ballet and opera. For the music. For the storytelling. For the sheer magic of live performance,” If you’d like to reconsider, @tchalamet, our doors are open. ✨"
The Seattle Opera, meanwhile, took the opportunity to offer a 14 percent discount for select seats using the promotion code “TIMOTHEE.”
“Timmy, you’re welcome to use it too 💃,” read the official Instagram post. “See you at the opera!”
