Timothée Chalamet on how he portrayed a story of addiction
The Call Me By Your Name star spoke to Ali Plumb about starring in new film Beautiful Boy
Timothée Chalamet, breakthrough star of 2017’s Call Me By Your Name, Academy Award nominee, and BFF with Frank Ocean, recently sat down with Radio 1’s Ali Plumb to discuss his latest film Beautiful Boy.
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Listen to Screen Time's Timothée Chalamet interview special
Radio 1's Ali Plumb chats to Chalamet about Beautiful Boy, the new Dune film and the success of Call Me By Your Name.
Beautiful Boy is a raw portrayal of drug addiction; and in particular how addiction doesn’t discriminate.
The film is based on two books – A Father’s Journey by David Sheff and Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines by Nic Sheff – and tells the brutal story of addiction through the lens of Nic's (played by Chalamet) father David (played by Steve Carell).
In an eye-opening, honest chat, Chalamet revealed how he prepared for the role, and the havoc drugs wreak on societies around the world.
“This isn’t an uplifting movie – in any sense of the word”
There is no textbook Hollywood happy ending to Beautiful Boy, and that’s because the film is about real life, says Chalamet.
“This movie doesn’t end with a rehab flourish, nor does it end in tragedy,” he told Ali Plumb. “Addiction is something you deal with a day at a time. Nic Sheff has been sober for eight years now, and he had 14 relapses in the first seven years of trying to get sober.”
He added: “In young communities in America, addiction is tearing us apart right now.”
Preparing for the role was an extreme challenge
Chalamet became a household name through 2014’s Interstellar and 2017 films Lady Bird and Call Me By Your Name. But starring as Nic Sheff in Beautiful Boy was surely his toughest role yet.
Ali Plumb asked him: “You’ve got to put your body through the ringer to play this character. Was there a moment when you thought, ‘I don’t know if I can do this justice?’”
“That anxiety was there omnipresently,” Chalamet admitted. He lost 20lbs for the role and "I’m a skinny guy anyway” said Chalamet.
To research the role, he attended alcoholism and addiction programs, and he spent a lot of time with Nic Sheff. “He is a wonderfully light human being. He became my mantra when I was making this movie.”
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Beautiful Boy aims to address drug taboos
The real message behind the film is that addiction can happen to anybody; regardless of background, wealth, or life story.
Someone told me that it was their favourite horror movie of the year
“Someone told me the other day that it was their favourite horror movie of the year. I liked that,” Chalamet said. “The ease is to look at that person across the street and go, ‘It’s not me!’ But it’s not black-and-white, it’s complex. When somebody has dealt with addiction personally or in the periphery, they really get this movie.”
He also says there’s a disconnect between the struggle of addiction and how people perceive it.
“One of the most defeating stereotypes is that addiction is one big euphoria trip, that they’re addicted and having a great time, selfishly not considering other people in their lives. But the reality of it is people are in pain, especially in 2019. The human condition has always been to suffer, but we live in a really weird, disconnected, disillusioned world. Everything is not natural, down to the substances. You could be poolside or in an abandoned warehouse; the opiates are gonna give you the same effect.”
