Who Is Timothée Chalamet?On March 4, 2018, Timothée Chalamet (say: tim-uh-thee shal-a-may) arrived at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. The Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars, were about to begin. He was nominated for Best Actor for his starring role in the movie Call Me by Your Name. The film was about a teenage boy falling in love for the first time during a summer trip to Italy. At just twenty-two years old, Timothée was the youngest person to be nominated for this award since 1940.
Before the ceremony began, Timothée walked the red carpet into the theater. His mother, one of the people who had inspired him to become a performer, was by his side. The flashes from the cameras and constant requests for interviews were overwhelming for Timothée. More than twenty-six million people in the United States were watching the broadcast at home on TV. But Timothée wasn’t intimidated by the people watching him—he was filled with anticipation and excitement to attend the historic awards show.
It had been a whirlwind year. Since Call Me by Your Name came out in 2017, the movie had attracted nonstop praise and attention. It received countless positive reviews and appeared on many lists of the best movies of 2017. Timothée’s acting was especially praised, with everyone noticing that he was an impressive young talent. He had already been nominated for and won other awards for his performance.
The Oscars, however, were the biggest movie awards of all. It was a huge honor to be nominated for Best Actor, especially at his age. Several of his fellow nominees were experienced actors who had already won Oscars, including Denzel Washington and Daniel Day-Lewis. These were people Timothée looked up to. Now, he was sitting next to them and many other of the most talented people in the film industry.
Near the end of the ceremony, the award for Best Actor was announced. Despite Timothée’s excellent performance, the award ultimately went to another actor, Gary Oldman. Although he did not win that night, Timothée was the youngest actor to be nominated for that category in seventy-eight years! He would go on to be nominated for many more awards—including another Oscar in 2025—and become one of the most beloved actors in all of Hollywood. This nomination was just the beginning for this hardworking young star.
Copyright © 2026 by Vivian Jun Kirklin; illustrated by Dede Putra. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
