Timothée Chalamet was poised to have another successful year in 2023. In addition to returning as Paul Atreides in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two, he took on the iconic role of Willy Wonka in Paul King’s musical prequel Wonka. He also found time to collaborate with Martin Scorsese on a new Bleu de Chanel ad and to begin filming James Mangold’s Bob Dylan biopic, Total Unknown.
While Dune: Part Two was ultimately pushed back to 2024 due to the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike, it’s still a busy year for Chalamet. But that’s good for the 27-year-old actor, who hates idleness. In a new article for GQ, Chalamet talks about his love of being busy and how he had to scale back his work schedule during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
Chalamet explained that his small role in Adam McKay’s satirical comedy Don’t Look Up required him to spend more time quarantining than filming. When he traveled to Boston to film the film in 2020, COVID protocols required him to quarantine for 14 days. As soon as he was able to show up on set, he really wanted to work and interact with other people again. So much so that his enthusiasm scared off some of his co-stars, including Jennifer Lawrence.
“By the time I started filming, I was already excited,” Chalamet said. “That day, according to Jennifer, was the most unpleasant day of her life when she worked with me and Leo. I stormed out of my room.”
Lawrence’s irritation may have been heightened by the fact that she used marijuana on set to connect with her drug-addicted character. While promoting the film, she joked that her drunkenness made her a constant target for pranks.
“I was the real target,” Lawrence said. “Everyone fucked with me. …Probably because I was high. He’s easy to fuck with.