Despite only appearing in a few scenes, actor Timothée Chalamet had a supporting role in Christopher Nolan’s 2014 sci-fi epic Interstellar. Though he’s been acting for most of his life, Chalamet didn’t find his breakout role until being cast as Elio in Luca Guadagnino’s Call Me By Your Name, which saw him nominated for an Academy Award and thrust into the spotlight as one of his generation’s biggest rising stars. He’s continued to star in both independent projects and big-screen blockbusters since then, cementing himself as a huge draw for all audiences.
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Several years before breaking out in Call Me By Your Name, Chalamet was cast in Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar, a sci-fi film about a team of astronauts that travel the galaxy looking for a habitable planet to transfer humanity to. Interstellar is among the best original blockbusters of its decade, bringing a wide range of smart ideas and important commentary into an accessible medium. It’s a powerful meditation on humanity’s future in the stars, commenting on how much people need to value planet Earth in order to remain here.
Timothée Chalamet Played A Young Tom Cooper
Young Tom Cooper (Chalamet) is one of protagonist Joseph Cooper’s (Matthew McConaughey) two children, whom he leaves behind on planet Earth when he’s called away for an important mission among the stars. The pair have a complex relationship, as Tom quickly begins to resent his father for seemingly abandoning him when the mission goes wrong and he finds himself trapped light-years away from his family. Tom's character gives Interstellar a powerful opportunity to examine the importance of sacrifices in pursuit of the greater good; Joseph is forced to give up his family life in order to seek a better future for the human race.
Time has always been important in Nolan’s films, and Interstellar is no different. The film explores the concept of time dilation, which causes moments to pass quicker in some locations than in others. Because of this, Cooper’s children back on Earth begin to experience life much faster than him. Soon enough, Tom becomes much older (and Chalamet is replaced by Casey Affleck) and his entire childhood has been spent without his father. It’s a tragic story that pushes home Nolan’s message about the importance of family vs. the even stronger importance of one’s duty to the protection of their species.
Timothée Chalamet Was Sad That His Role Was Smaller Than Expected
Though his role was in a supporting capacity, Chalamet had been under the impression that his role would be much larger than it ended up being. Chalamet has starred in plenty of great movies since Interstellar, but the power behind Nolan’s name and the film’s immense budget had understandably led him to believe that this would be his star-turning role. When he finally watched the movie at its premiere, he realized just how minor his character was. On Variety’s ‘Actors on Actors’, he said: “I just figured my part was bigger. They didn't even cut anything. I just figured... I don't know what I figured.” (via Variety)
Chalamet continued: “It was me, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, and John Lithgow. And I really had no career at this point, so I was like the fraud a little bit in this room. And I saw it and I loved it, but then I went home with my dad and wept for an hour.” Though Interstellar ended up being one of Chalamet’s highest-grossing movies, he struggled to recognize his own importance in the project. But his performance was still incredibly powerful and probably contributed strongly to the actor’s progression in Hollywood, and Chalamet might not have become a global sensation without this push.