Timothée Chalamet opens up about early fears of becoming an actor

Timothée Chalamet opened up about his initial reservations about becoming an actor.

Growing up in a rent-subsidized building in New York City's Theatre District, surrounded by struggling artists, Chalamet witnessed the challenges of making it in the industry. The actor discussed his early acting life struggles in a recent interview with Anderson Cooper on 60 Minutes.

“This building truthfully made me scared of acting because it’s a tough lifestyle and a lot of people aren’t doing fantastically,” the actor said.

Cooper told Chalamet that he assumed growing up in that type of environment would "encourage" him to pursue the arts. Instead, Chalamet experienced the reverse.

“It actually terrified me of becoming an actor,” the Wonka star recalled.

Despite his family's artistic background, his mother was a dancer, and his sister, Pauline Chalamet, is most recognised for her performance in The Sex Lives of College Girls. The Oscar candidate told Cooper that his father encouraged him to "be normal."

“It’s no place for a child. It really isn’t,” Chalamet said of acting as a kid. “The cameras and people going, ‘Hey, do the thing where we recognize you as cute in your own head.'”

Despite initial doubts, Chalamet pursued acting and became a household name. He's earned two Oscar nominations for his roles in Call Me by Your Name (2017) and A Complete Unknown (2023), where he received rave reviews for his portrayal of Bob Dylan.