NEW YORK, NEW YORK - DECEMBER 07: Timothée Chalamet attends the "Little Women" World Premiere at Museum of Modern Art on December 07, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)
Timothée Chalamet is having a moment. Actually, he’s not just having a moment.
With the recent release of “A Complete Unknown” — and before that, “Wonka,” “Dune,” and “The French Dispatch” — he is the moment.
Since Chalamet’s 2017 performance in “Call Me By Your Name”earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor at the age of 22, he has shot into the spotlight. From “Lady Bird”and “Little Women” to “The King,” he has proven himself to be a rising star.
LONDON, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 18: Timothée Chalamet attends the UK Special Screening of “Dune” at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on October 18, 2021 in London, England. (Photo by Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images for Warner Bros)
But before Chalamet was Hollywood’s golden boy, he was just a nice Jewish boy.
So let’s unpack his Jewish identity:
He’s a New York native
Timothée Hal Chalamet was born on December 27, 1995, in New York City.
Timothée’s mom, Nicole Flender, who was formerly a Broadway dancer, is Russian and Austrian Jewish. Needless to say, very Ashkenazi all around.
His French roots come from his dad’s side of the family.
His French dad, Marc Chalamet, is from Nîmes, France and Timothée grew up spending summers at his grandparent’s home in Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, a small French village two hours away from Lyon.
He’s a dual citizen
Chalamet is fluent in both English and French and holds dual United States and French citizenships.
He identifies as Jewish
According to his mom, Chalamet identifies as Jewish!
Chalamet finds the afikomen (Instagram // Nicole Flender)
The Chalamet family seder table (Instagram // Nicole Flender)
Flender has posted pictures to her Instagram of Timothée and the family celebrating Hanukkah and Passover and even a young Timmy attending a bar mitzvah in 2008. She’s shared adorable photos of the star finding the afikomen, lighting candles on the family menorah, and their seder table.
Before he began his romance with Kylie Jenner, Chalamet was a member of the Jewish dating app The Lox Club, which is “for Jews with ridiculously high standards.”
Judaism was a central focus for his breakout role in “Call Me By Your Name“
Chalamet’s Hollywood debut in “Call Me By Your Name”had a unique Jewish background. The film is based off a novel of the same name by Jewish author André Aciman, and religion is a prominent theme throughout both the film and book.
Chalamet as Elio in “Call Me By Your Name”
In the movie, Chalamet plays 17-year-old Elio, an American Jew living with his parents in Italy in 1983. Elio develops feelings for Oliver (played by Armie Hammer), his father’s temporary assistant.
One of the first points of connection between Elio and Oliver is their shared Jewishness. Oliver proudly wears a Star of David, which shocks Elio, who rarely meets other Jews.
“My mother says we are Jews of discretion,” Elio tells Oliver.
By the end of the film, Elio follows Oliver’s lead and wears a Jewish star necklace, relating to his Jewishness in a different way than his parents.
In an interview about the film, Chalamet talked about the importance of Elio’s Judaism and called Jewishness a driving force of the plot.
“It wasn’t something I could verbalize or understand in a conscious domain, but rather there’s something inexplicable about it that is a driving force in the film,” Chalamet said.
For his next role, Chalamet will be portraying Jewish table tennis legend Marty Reisman in “Marty Supreme,” and will serve as a producer on the film as well.
He’s redefining what the filmstar heartthrob looks like
Chalamet doesn’t exactly look like your “usual” Hollywood heartthrob. He doesn’t have the Channing Tatum Magic Mike aesthetic. In fact, his lack of muscles has become a running joke in a few of his films.
timothee chalamet in dune raises the very important question: what if the protagonist in an action movie had no muscles
Shaked Karabelnicoff is a writer and content creator. She reports on a range of subjects including culture, technology, and religious affairs. Shaked studied journalism and religion at Carleton University in Ottawa.
