Steven Spielberg is the latest Hollywood heavyweight weighing in after Timothée Chalamet sparked backlash with his comments about opera and ballet.
The 30-year-old actor raised eyebrows during a conversation with Matthew McConaughey, expressing his hope that movie theaters continue to thrive. The two were chatting for Variety’s Actors on Actors series when Chalamet shared his unfiltered take.
“I don’t want to be working in ballet or opera or, you know, things where it’s like: “Hey, keep this thing alive,” even though no one cares about this anymore,” he said.
Trying to soften the blow, Chalamet quickly added: “All respect to the ballet and opera people out there. I just lost 14 cents in viewership, I just took shots for no reason.”
The actor—who’s nominated for Best Actor at this year’s Academy Awards for his ping-pong film Marty Supreme—didn’t expect the comments to ignite such a firestorm. But his remarks quickly drew criticism from figures across the theater world, including renowned ballerina Misty Copeland and stage legend Nathan Lane.
Now Spielberg, a three-time Oscar winner, has seemingly joined the chorus of critics. According to insiders who spoke to the Daily Mail, a tongue-in-cheek “Stop Timmy” campaign has even begun circulating ahead of the awards show.
The legendary director appeared to take a subtle jab at Chalamet while speaking during an onstage interview at the South by Southwest Film Festival. While talking about the power of movie theaters, Spielberg praised the shared experience of live entertainment.
“But for me, the real experience comes when we can influence a community to congregate in a strange, dark space where all of us are strangers,” he said.
“At the end of a really good movie experience, we are all united with a whole bunch of feelings that we walk into the daylight with, or into the nighttime with. And there’s nothing like that. It happens in movies, and in concerts. And it happens in ballet and opera, by the way,” the legend added.
The crowd reportedly cheered and laughed at the pointed remark. Smiling, Spielberg followed it up by saying, “And we want that to be sustained. We want that to go on forever.”
Chalamet’s original comment came as he and McConaughey discussed how some Hollywood figures publicly advocate for movie theaters.
“I admire people, and I’ve done it myself, doing a talk show about how we’ve got to keep movie theatres alive, you know, we’ve got to keep this genre alive,” he said.
“And another part of me feels like, if people want to see it, like Barbie, like Oppenheimer, they’re going to go see it and go out of their way to be loud and proud about it,” he added, arguing that opera and ballet don’t have the same mainstream draw.
After realizing how his words sounded, Chalamet attempted to walk them back.
When he apologized for taking a “shot” at the art forms, McConaughey responded: “That’s not a shot, I hear what you’re saying.”
Still, the damage was done, and many figures from the classical arts world weren’t impressed.
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