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In Defense of Timothée Chalamet

March 9, 2026, 2:58 PM · Maybe you've seen it: it's a short clip of the famous young actor Timothée Chalamet trashing ballet and opera, saying quite unequivocally that "no one cares any more" about these art forms.

I mean, ouch.

Between Facebook and Instagram, I've been shown this clip more than a dozen times, and it's been sent to me by friends. I've also seen dozens of reactions to the clip - quite clever ones by friends and colleagues in classical music, opera and ballet, who have written poems, made short videos, danced, sang. The Seattle Opera ran promotion for an upcoming performance of Carmen, posting on Instagram, "use promo code TIMOTHEE to save 14% off select seats for Carmen, through this weekend only. Timmy, you're welcome to use it too." The Met made a special video in response.

Chalamet certainly hit a sore spot. But let's be honest here, the Internet has zeroed in on us and done what it does best: Amplify something taken out of context and stoked our rage. (Curiously, my non-classical music friends are seeing little to none of this on their feeds.)

Is the rage beyond what this incident deserves? I decided I wanted to see where this comment came from, what was the context?

So I watched the entire hour-long interview between Timothée Chalamet and Matthew McConaughey from which this 10-second clip was captured. The interview was posted to YouTube Feb. 24, part of the Variety & CNN "Actors on Actors" series, filmed at The University of Texas at Austin’s Moody College of Communication, with an audience of film students. (If you wish to watch it yourself, click here.)

It's actually a fascinating interview - something that I actually feel that a lot of artists would relate to. And believe it or not, Chalamet is pretty humble throughout, and certainly deferential to the more seasoned actor, Matthew McConaughey. It's clear that these are two thoughtful actors, speaking eloquently about their art.

As for the context of the offending quote: it begins with a discussion about the viability of their own art form: film. Is the art of film being watered down for streaming, for Internet consumption?

Matthew McConaughey makes the interesting observation that "the first act" (the exposition, if you will) of a film is the part that an actor loves the most. It's the part where the actor gets to say to the audience, "Maybe you've seen this story before, but never with ME," and thus has a chance to blaze some new ground.

Netflix seems to want that first act to end sooner, McConaughey observed, in order to get to the action, to get to the conflict, so we can draw in the audience before they click over to something else. And that is bleeding into Hollywood and the theaters.

Chalamet concedes that maybe this so, but there are still plenty of films with a nice slow-burn first act. People will still go see long-form movies like "Oppenheimer" and "Barbie." On the other hand, one does need to adapt to the times. And that is when Chalamet says:

"I admire people - and I've done it myself - who go on a talk show and say, 'Hey we've got to keep movie theaters alive, we've got to keep this genre alive!' And another part of me feels like...I don't want to be working in ballet or opera, where it's like 'keep this thing alive' even though no one cares any more...."

Then he realizes he's put his foot in his mouth. He continues, "...all respect to the ballet and opera people out there, I just lost 14 cents in viewership - damn, I just took shots for no reason."

At this point McConaughey wisely re-directs the conversation. Yet later in the interview, when they tackle the subject of AI, Chalamet says, "To my point about opera, whatever tide is coming, is coming."

Let's be honest, the tide came for us a long time ago, and we've been struggling to adapt for generations. The problem with Chalamet's crude commentary is that it strikes a chord.

Our industry is not thriving the way we would like it to. It is surviving, yes, but that is not the same as thriving. We run on deficits. We have to give away tickets to fill seats. We struggle on a basic level to fund what we do.

And more and more, we have no representation at basic events in the music industry. For example, I didn't go to NAMM this year - it's the music industry's largest trade show for music merchants. The last straw for me was when I was registering, and they asked me to take a quiz, "What is your favorite genre of music?" Classical music wasn't on it. "What instrument are you interested in?" Violin, viola, cello were not listed. "What kind of music group interests you?" Orchestra was not listed.

Another example: every year I write about the classical Grammys. But for many years, those Grammys have not been awarded in the same nationally televised ceremony as the other awards. The classical Grammys are relegated to the tail end of the un-televised ceremony, by which time most of the audience has left for the "real awards." As someone said, "Nobody cares...."

Obviously, some people care deeply about ballet and opera and classical music - the fine arts. I certainly do.

But our industry is not thriving the way we'd like, and shooting the messenger won't help us. Ragebait is the enemy of thoughtfulness. It hides and distracts from the truths that all artists - working in film to the fine arts - seek to express.

We have to face the tough question: Is there a way to grow inside this changing culture, without losing our artistic integrity?

There is always a way, but we are going to have to get very creative, especially with the aggressive introduction of AI into all facets of our lives. Fortunately, our industry is full of artists and creative minds of the highest caliber.

So let's not get distracted. Let's focus on finding innovative ways to widen our reach and grow the fine arts in sustainable ways that still celebrate the excellence at the core of what we do. With algorithms and ragebait working to divide us, art and human connection are more important than ever.

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Here is the entire interview between Timothée Chalamet and Matthew McConaughey, if you wish to watch it:

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