Timothée Chalamet Bio
Timothée Hal Chalamet (born December 27, 1995) is an American and French actor widely recognized for his emotionally charged performances in both independent films and large-scale blockbusters. Over the course of his career, he has received two Academy Award nominations for Best Actor, four Golden Globe Award nominations, four British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA) nominations, a Grammy Award nomination, and a Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award. Chalamet first drew international attention for his lead role in the coming-of-age drama Call Me by Your Name (2017), which established him as one of the most compelling actors of his generation. He has since become a major Hollywood leading man, balancing auteur-driven projects with franchise tentpoles, and is widely regarded as a fashion icon and cultural figure.
Early Life and Background
Timothée Hal Chalamet was born on December 27, 1995, in Manhattan, New York City, and raised in the federally subsidized artists’ building Manhattan Plaza in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood. He grew up in a creative, bilingual household; his mother, Nicole Flender, is a third-generation New Yorker of half Russian Jewish and half Austrian Jewish descent, a former Broadway dancer, and a Yale-educated French teacher, while his French father, Marc Chalamet, is an editor for UNICEF and a New York correspondent for Le Parisien. He has an older sister, Pauline Chalamet, who is also an actress. On his mother’s side, he is a nephew of filmmakers Rodman Flender and Amy Lippman.
Chalamet spent summers in Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, a small French village near Lyon, at the home of his paternal grandparents, which gave him fluency in both English and French and shaped his bicultural identity. He attended PS 87 William T. Sherman School for elementary school and later transferred into the selective Delta program at MS 54 Booker T. Washington Middle School, where he found the academic environment creatively stifling. His decision to pursue acting was sparked at a young age by Heath Ledger’s portrayal of the Joker in The Dark Knight (2008), which inspired him to audition for the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts.
At LaGuardia, Chalamet’s drama teacher was so impressed by his audition that he advocated for his acceptance, awarding him the highest score he had ever given a young performer. He graduated in 2013 after starring in school musicals including Cabaret and Sweet Charity, and is also a YoungArts alumnus. After high school, he attended Columbia University for a year, majoring in cultural anthropology, before transferring to New York University’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study. He eventually left New York University to focus on acting full-time and avoid student debt.
Path to Acting
Timothée Chalamet began his screen career as a child, appearing in commercials and two horror short films titled Sweet Tooth and Clown before making his television debut in an episode of the long-running police procedural series Law & Order in 2009. In 2011, he made his stage debut in the Off-Broadway play The Talls, a coming-of-age comedy set in the 1970s. His breakthrough in television came in 2012 with a recurring role in the Showtime thriller series Homeland, in which he played Finn Walden, the rebellious son of the Vice President. The cast’s performance earned him a SAG Award nomination for Best Ensemble, signaling the arrival of a notable young talent.
In 2014, Chalamet made his feature film debut in a minor role in Jason Reitman’s comedy-drama Men, Women & Children and appeared in Christopher Nolan’s science fiction film Interstellar, playing the son of Matthew McConaughey’s character. Interstellar grossed over $700 million worldwide and gave him valuable exposure, though he later noted that the film did not immediately advance his career as he had hoped. In 2016, he starred as Jim Quinn in the autobiographical play Prodigal Son at Manhattan Theatre Club, a performance that won him the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Play and a nomination for the Drama League Award for Distinguished Performance.
Timothée Chalamet Career
Early Career (2008–2016)
Throughout his early career, Timothée Chalamet built a steady résumé across television, independent film, and stage. Following his Homeland role, he took on parts in films such as the limited-release comedy Worst Friends, the fantasy thriller One & Two at the Berlin International Film Festival, The Adderall Diaries, and the holiday comedy Love the Coopers, where he starred alongside Diane Keaton and John Goodman. These varied projects allowed him to develop his craft and gain attention from casting directors in both studio and independent circles.
His stage work in Prodigal Son marked his first major critical recognition. Handpicked by playwright John Patrick Shanley, Chalamet was praised for capturing the vulnerability of a young Bronx misfit adjusting to a New Hampshire prep school, with critics comparing his intensity to screen legends of earlier eras. The role established him as a serious dramatic actor beyond his television work and laid the foundation for the leading-man opportunities that soon followed.
Breakthrough (2017–2020)
Timothée Chalamet’s international breakthrough arrived with Luca Guadagnino’s Call Me by Your Name (2017), in which he starred as Elio Perlman, a teenager who falls in love with a visiting graduate student played by Armie Hammer. Chalamet learned Italian, piano, and guitar for the role, and the film premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival to widespread critical acclaim. Critics singled out his performance as the emotional heart of the film, with The Hollywood Reporter declaring it the most alive performance of the year, and he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor, becoming the third-youngest nominee in the category.
He also collected the Gotham Independent Film Award for Breakthrough Actor and the Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead for Call Me by Your Name. The same year, he appeared in Hot Summer Nights, Lady Bird, and Hostiles, showcasing his range across ensemble pieces and prestige drama. In 2018, he portrayed Nic Sheff, a young man struggling with methamphetamine addiction, in Beautiful Boy opposite Steve Carell, earning Golden Globe, SAG, and BAFTA nominations for Best Supporting Actor.
In 2019, Chalamet played Henry V of England in the Netflix period drama The King and portrayed Theodore “Laurie” Laurence in Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of Little Women, a performance that critics praised for its charm and vulnerability. By the time he hosted Saturday Night Live in 2020, Chalamet had firmly established himself as one of the most respected actors of his generation.
Notable Works and Milestones
Timothée Chalamet’s signature work remains Call Me by Your Name, a role that earned him his first Academy Award nomination and positioned him as a defining voice of contemporary coming-of-age cinema. His career-defining milestone came in 2024 with A Complete Unknown, a Bob Dylan biopic in which he produced and starred, leading to a second Academy Award nomination, a Grammy Award nomination for the soundtrack, and a historic SAG Award win for Best Actor that made him the youngest recipient in the category’s history.
Timothée Chalamet Award Nominations
Timothée Chalamet has accumulated a substantial collection of major award nominations across film, television, and music, reflecting his consistent work across genres and formats. He has received two Academy Award nominations for Best Actor, four Golden Globe Award nominations, four BAFTA Film Award nominations, three SAG Award nominations, and a Grammy Award nomination for his work on the A Complete Unknown soundtrack. His nominations span performances in Call Me by Your Name, Beautiful Boy, Wonka, and A Complete Unknown, demonstrating both peer and critical recognition throughout his career.
Timothée Chalamet Awards Won
Among Timothée Chalamet’s most celebrated wins is the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actor, which he received in 2025 for his portrayal of Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown, making him the youngest winner in the category’s history. He has also won the Gotham Independent Film Award for Breakthrough Actor and the Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead for Call Me by Your Name, along with the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Play for Prodigal Son.
Timothée Chalamet Family
Timothée Chalamet comes from a deeply artistic and internationally rooted family. His father, Marc Chalamet, is a French editor and journalist working for UNICEF and Le Parisien, and his mother, Nicole Flender, is a former Broadway dancer and French teacher with Russian Jewish and Austrian Jewish heritage. His older sister, Pauline Chalamet, is an actress, and through his mother’s side of the family, he is the nephew of husband-and-wife filmmakers and producers Rodman Flender and Amy Lippman.
Personal Life
Timothée Chalamet splits his time between New York City and California. Despite significant public interest in his romantic life, he has generally avoided discussing it in interviews. As of 2023, he is in a relationship with Kylie Jenner. Off screen, Chalamet is a passionate sports fan who supported the French soccer team Saint-Étienne and the New York Knicks basketball team, and he has credited rapper Kid Cudi along with actors Leonardo DiCaprio and Joaquin Phoenix as major career inspirations.
