Some of Timothée Chalamet’s best movies have seen him perform in time periods far back as the Middle Ages in The King, as well as playing characters from the ‘80s about three times in Call Me By Your Name, Hot Summer Nights and now Bones & All. He’s noticed that one of the best parts of living in the ‘80s is being without social media. After completing Luca Guadagino’s newest flick, the 26-year-old actor believes that “societal collapse is in the air” all thanks to social media.
While social media is a great way to connect with people, it can lead to a number of challenges including young people being critical of themselves. According to Variety, Timothée Chalamet was sounding the alarm on social media at the Venice press conference for Bones & All, saying he felt that social media presented a lot of judgment towards the youth, and that he was happy to play characters who lived in a world outside of that. In Chalamet’s words:
To be young now, and to be young whenever—I can only speak for my generation—is to be intensely judged. I can’t imagine what it is to grow up with the onslaught of social media, and it was a relief to play characters who are wrestling with an internal dilemma absent the ability to go on Reddit, or Twitter, Instagram or TikTok and figure out where they fit in. I’m not casting judgement. You can find your tribe there.
Especially being a celebrity constantly in the public eye can make rumors and scandals speak volumes when social media is involved. This is all the more reason why A-listers like Prince Harry and Meghan Markle quit social media due to reported online trolling, as Markle has opened up about. Another example is when Walking Dead actor Josh McDermitt deactivated his social media accounts too for receiving death threats based on the villainous actions of his character. Even House of Dragon star Emily Carey took down her Twitter due to the “loud” responses that were given to her after comments she made at San Diego Comic-Con about her character. Social media users still have no problems expressing whatever they want to these celebrities no matter how brutal these words appear to them.
While social media is a great way to find your people, it’s not a good idea to depend too much on it. Timothée Chalamet further expressed that he felt social media makes it challenging to live today with the following:
I think it’s hard to be alive now. I think societal collapse is in the air. That’s why hopefully this movie will matter.
Another person who’s in agreement with the Dune actor’s social media stances is his Bones & All co-star Taylor Russell, as she thought of what her younger brother must be going through. She’s expressed fear of the possibility of him ever dealing with harsh judgment from social media users before with hopes to “find your own compass” through it all. When those judgments do come flooding in, it’s very important to stay true to yourself since random people online will never know you more than yourself.
Timothée Chalamet has said that he’s glad to be reteaming with his Call Me By Your Name director Luca Guadagnino, as he’s the director responsible for launching his career. He was, after all, the director responsible for earning this young actor an Oscar nomination for the movie, as well as leading the Indie Spirit Award nominations that year. After a new trailer was released for this cannibalistic movie, fans of Call Me By Your Name will be pouring into theaters itching to see the successful teamwork of these two collaborators.
This Oscar-nominated actor has good reasons to fear what social media will do to this generation. The best advice you can give to anyone in the social media age is to be mindful of what you post and how you interpret what others say about you. You can see Timothée Chalamet’s upcoming film Bones & All on November 23rd.