For these art forms to thrive, they need to attract young people. The Oscar contender’s comments are just the conversation starter they need
Rebecca Humphries is an actor and author
Timothée Chalamet thinks no one cares about opera or ballet. He told Matthew McConaughey so. Also, the entire world.
“I don’t want to be working in ballet, or opera, or things where it’s like, ‘Hey, keep this thing alive, even though like no one cares about this any more’,” Chalamet said in a recorded conversation for Variety.
It’s fair to say his follow-up “All respect to all the ballet and opera people out there” didn’t land. His PR team have likely been brainstorming responses to the inevitable red-carpet challenges at Sunday night’s Academy Awards (which has since confirmed ballerina Misty Copeland, who rebuked his comments, as a performer). The Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli has publicly invited Chalamet to one of his concerts. Coming soon to an algorithm near you: Chalamet shedding tears to Nessun Dorma.
