Timothée Chalamet is Hollywood's most popular heartthrob, and now he's potentially one of its biggest nepotism babies.
The dreaded "nepo baby" label is becoming just as common nowadays as "industry plant," with the former referring to someone who receives special privileges due to their relatives or friends being powerful. Usually, it means that someone is able to get jobs because of who they know, and it's usually famous parents.
Now Chalamet doesn't exactly fit the nepo baby definition despite his mother being a real estate agent and his father being a journalist, but then again, he is the nephew of Rodman Flender, best known as the director of Leprechaun 2.
\u201cTimoth\u00e9e Chalamet catching Nepo Baby strays for being the NEPHEW of the director of LEPRECHAUN 2 is so unserious hsjdhsjsjsjs\u201d— Zo\u00eb Rose Bryant (@Zo\u00eb Rose Bryant) 1671473009
However, Chalamet's status as one of Hollywood's most exciting stars of the past few years is raising some eyebrows as to how privileged he is.
After it was announced that Paul Mescal was set to play the lead role in Ridley Scott's Gladiator 2, rumors began to swirl of other possible contenders ranging from Austin Butler to Chalamet before Mescal was eventually chosen.
In a response to a now-deleted tweet saying that Chalamet was among the several actors who "auditioned" for the role, the actor's agent Brian Swardstrom set the record straight and said, "I know one of these actors was shooting a film in the middle east for the past several months - and he hasn’t auditioned for anything in more than 7 years."
The response was mixed, with some saying that Chalamet should not be exempt from the audition process.
\u201c@brianswardstrom @DiscussingFilm @Borys_Kit That's really not an accomplishment to me that's just gross. Even the most well known actors should have to audition to get roles. Otherwise it all seems like it's fixed. Idk maybe give other people a shot at getting famous? \ud83e\udee0\u201d— Brian Swardstrom (@Brian Swardstrom) 1673114419
\u201ctimothee chalamet is all kinds of privileged but being a nepo baby isn\u2019t smth i would ascribe to him\u201d— rain \ud83e\udee7 (@rain \ud83e\udee7) 1673137837
While others are quick to say that this is a normal thing for seasoned actors and Chalamet isn't receiving any special treatment.
\u201cthere are real conversations to be had about white privilege, but timothee chalamet not auditioning for roles rn isn\u2019t it. this is where he is in his career, he\u2019s not the first actor to be in this position, and he won\u2019t be the last.\u201d— June (@June) 1673128431
\u201cTimoth\u00e9e Chalamet has not needed to audition for anything in 7 years. See when you're the it boy, it actor of your generation!\u201d— T (@T) 1673116988
Another day of Chalamet beating the nepo baby allegations. We love to see it.
Photo courtesy of Billy Farrell/BFA