Timothée Chalamet on acting craft and Kobe Bryant

    by Tufail: Timothée Chalamet

    Timothée Chalamet on acting as a craft: "It's less looking at movies and more looking at real life. Jack Fisk, the production designer of Marty Supreme, says he never pulls from another movie because you're already pulling from watered down life. If you pull from another movie, you got to go see real life." "I feel like the offseason for an actor is you don't destroy yourself. That's how low the requirement is and how high the stakes are. People do not take care of themselves and that's been me at times." "The responsibility is don't destroy yourself. If you don't destroy yourself, you've won 95% of the battle." "In the last three or four years moving to LA, the healthy lifestyle I have, I'm locked in. I got this rare gift to be working on projects at the highest level, so I want to seize it." "I could be one of a million people living a nice lifestyle that earned a nice living for themselves. I should have gotten into insurance banking if I wanted to live it like that. But if I'm going to be an actor, if I'm going to be in front of the world and live this weird lifestyle, I might as well try to make great things." "I go back to Kobe Bryant again man. That Kobe stuff doesn't happen with him partying. That's why I took that approach on Marty Supreme too. If we're all taking pay cuts to be here, we might as well really go extremely hard and be very intentional about what we're doing.

    Transcript (en)

    Great question, man. I would say it's less looking at movies and more looking at real life. Jack Fisk, the production designer of Marty Supreme, he says he never pulls from another movie because you're already pulling down. You're pulling from water down life. If you pull from another movie, you've got to go see real life. I feel like the off-season for an actor is you don't destroy yourself. That's how low the stakes are. That's how low the requirement is and how high the stakes are. I'm not trying to be preachy about mental health and acting and all that, or just in the artist community. People do not take care of themselves, you know, and that's been me at times, you know, and so the responsibility is don't destroy yourself. If you don't destroy yourself, you've won 95% of the battle. And then now, in the last three years, four years, moving to LA, the healthy lifestyle I have, you know, I'm locked in. I'm really like, I got this rare gift, you know, to be working on projects at the highest level, so I want to seize it, you know. I could be one of a million people living a nice lifestyle, you know, that earned a nice living for themselves. I should have gotten into insurance banking if I wanted to live it like that. But if I'm gonna be an actor, if I'm gonna be in front of the world and live this weird lifestyle, I might as well try to make great things, you know? Look at the way he's guarded his career and his, you know, all the championships. I go back to Kobe again, man. That Kobe stuff doesn't happen with him partying, you know? And that's why I took that approach on Marty's Supreme, too. You're never trying to be outwardly antagonistic on set. But if we're all taking pay cuts to be here, we might as well like really go extremely hard, you know, and be very intentional about what we're doing.