Timothée Chalamet first revealed in September 2022 that Don’t Look Up co-star Leonardo DiCaprio once gave him brief but essential career advice: “No hard drugs and no superhero movies.” DiCaprio has never gone the comic book movie route, a path that Chalamet has also avoided thus far despite the majority of his contemporaries being involved with Marvel and DC films in recent years.
Does Chalamet still adhere to DiCaprio’s advice? In a recent interview with The New York Times during the press tour for “Dune: Part Two,” Chalamet said that the door to acting in comic book movies isn’t as completely closed as it might be for DiCaprio.
“Well, Leonardo DiCaprio told me: No superhero movies, no hard drugs. “I thought it was pretty good,” Chalamet said. “I follow them both! But the movie that made me want to act was the superhero movie ‘The Dark Knight’. If the script is great, if the director is great, then I should consider it.”
Never underestimate the power of Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight.” Chalamet has long been vocal about his love for the 2008 historical comic book. After taking home the Best Actor award for “Call Me By Your Name” at the New York Film Critics Circle Awards in 2018, Chalamet spoke about changing the film’s Dark Knight” for his life.
“When I was 12 years old, after attending one of my sister Pauline’s ballet performances, I asked my mother and grandmother to watch Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight with me,” Chalamet said. “We went to AMC Empire 25 in Times Square for the 7:30 screening. I left that theater a changed man, and I’m serious about that. Heath Ledger’s performance in this movie was very moving for me, and now I have acting talent.
Chalamet will get his chance to work with Nolan in Interstellar, where the actor had a small supporting role as Matthew McConaughey’s son. Chalamet only got the chance to appear in his major studio in 2021’s Dune, and now he’s back for the upcoming sequel Dune: Part Two. Considering last year’s holiday hit “Wonka” (which topped $600 million at the worldwide box office), Chalamet has emerged as a leading man with real star power without any comic films to his name yet.
It’s fairly rare for actor Chalamet’s age not to be involved in the comic book world. Just look at her “Dune” co-stars. Zendaya and Florence Pugh are members of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (as are Dave Bautista and Stellan Skarsgård), while Jason Momoa has been DC’s “Aquaman” for a number of films. Even Josh Brolin dabbled in comic book movies with 2010’s “Jonah Hex.”
“Dune: Part Two” opens in theaters March 1 from Warner Bros. Pictures.