The ballet and opera world has responded strongly after Timothée Chalamet made remarks suggesting the art forms no longer hold widespread appeal.
The actor appeared at the CNN & Variety Town Hall Event last month, where he spoke with Matthew McConaughey about the future of cinemas and what draws audiences to theatres today.
During the conversation, Chalamet pointed to the upcoming release of Frankenstein as an example of a “serious movie” that can still perform well, while also suggesting that many viewers now prefer entertainment that’s immediate and easy to consume.
From there, the discussion shifted into comments about ballet and opera, which sparked backlash from companies and fans who felt the genres were being dismissed.
Chalamet explained: “I’m really right in the middle, Matthew. Cause I admire people, and I’ve done it myself, [who] go on a talk show and go, ‘Hey, we gotta keep movie theaters alive.
“You know, we gotta keep this genre alive.’ And another part of me feels like, if people wanna see it, like Barbie, like Oppenheimer, they’re gonna go see it and go out of their way and be loud and proud about it.
“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 it’s like, no one cares about this anymore. All respect to the ballet and opera people out there. I just lost 14 cents in viewership.”
Following the comments, several major organisations with deep roots in opera and ballet made their feelings clear—some straightforwardly, others with a little creativity.
The English National Opera, for example, issued an invitation for Chalamet to attend a future performance.
Penning an open invitation on Instagram, they wrote: “We’d love to change your mind- free tickets on us to help you fall back in love with opera anytime xoxo.”
London’s Royal Ballet and Opera also weighed in on Instagram, sharing a montage of their productions accompanied by the message “We care.”
They captioned the post with: “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.”
Elsewhere, Seattle Opera took a more humorous approach: the company introduced a 14 percent promotion for its production of Carmen, which can be claimed by using the code “Timothée” at checkout.
Chalamet’s representatives have been contacted for comment.