This Is Harder Than It Looks

There’s a brief moment in Timothée Chalamet’s video with comedian Druski where a performer comes in, vogues, and blows a kiss to the actor. Chalamet grabs the air kiss and smiles. “Okay, received,” he says with what appears to be genuine bemusement. It’s one of many — seemingly hundreds — stops on his ongoing Marty Supreme press blitz, where he’s done everything from old media (late night, Vogue cover) to new media (YouTube, getting celebs to post Marty merch on Instagram) to role-playing (posting a fake Zoom call with his marketing team). It’s boisterous and it’s unsubtle and it’s hard to say whether any of it will work or not — in terms of box office or Oscars — but there’s no denying that he’s just about the only guy who can do a press tour like this and make it remarkable.

Part of what becomes apparent watching Chalamet do a press tour is his seemingly unlimited supply of gameness. Ever since his SAG acceptance speech, he’s cultivated an air of aspirational singularity. Say what you want about Chalemet, but there’s no one like him out there. While his interviews and appearances can (and sometimes do) project this air of megalomania, he’s a much more generous scene partner than he initially appears. He’s neither steamrolling nor overriding Fallon or Druski or anyone he’s talking to, but rather making himself amenable to whatever interview structure or press gambit presents itself. He’ll weigh in on performers, or he’ll have a bowl of Wheaties with oat milk. He’ll talk about his favorite music with Nardwuar as though they’ve known each other forever. Is some of this just his age? Maybe — but why does, say, Sydney Sweeney seem like she’s in literal hell when shoehorned into a Labubu 6-7 sketch? (Actually, there’s no need to answer that.) His peers try to appear as game and willing, but only Chalamet is able to put his body on the line. His relentless theater-kid energy comes through no matter how much Chrome Hearts he wears. When he wants this attention, he wants it badly, and he’s not willing to feign nonchalance in order to get there.

So much of watching actors endure an awards-season press tour is like watching when Paul in Dune had to put his hand in the box and feel extraordinary pain. Whether they’re doing Actors on Actors or receiving Labubus, so many performers look like they want nothing more than to pull their hand out of the proverbial box. Chalamet, on the other hand, is making all of this look new and fun and easy when it’s anything but. That’s not to say he’s the only actor who is “good” at promoting his work — Amanda Seyfried has been single-handedly carrying the press for The Testament of Ann Lee by being her classic kooky self — but Chalamet’s encyclopedic knowledge of what lands on the internet specifically puts him in a class above. His excitement may not be as contagious as he’d want it to be, but he’s the only person on the circuit who can even get close to not only projecting pride but weaponizing it. He knows how to make himself make sense anywhere, appealing to the broadest possible audience in the lead-up to Marty Supreme. He might be driving you — or me, or everyone — completely nuts, but at least he’s having fun out there. Someone has to.