Timothée Chalamet continues to attract criticism for his shallow and dismissive take on Opera and ballet as art forms, with Bradley Whitford being the latest to respond amid the ongoing controversy. In a recent interview, the thespian shared his familiarity with opera and his amazement by it, even if he couldn’t understand. Simultaneously, he threw shade at Chalamet’s latest film, Marty Supreme, a major topic of discussion in the Oscars race and during the lead-up to the awards ceremony.
Bradley Whitford shades Timtothée Chalamet amid controversy
In a recent interview with PEOPLE, the three-time Emmy winner shared that he knew many opera singers from his days as an acting student and that he found the art form “amazing.” He added, “I would be incredibly moved by it, [even] when I had no idea what they were saying.”
Bradley Whitford then subtly mocked Timothée Chalamet‘s latest film, “Marty Supreme,” about table tennis, without naming it. He quipped, “I am not that into ping pong, though.”
Chalamet first sparked controversy over his comments on opera and ballet during an interaction with Matthew McConaughey. Captured by Variety in February, the conversation was about the current state of the film industry.
In the conversation, the Call Me By Your Name actor said, “I don’t want to be working in ballet, or opera, or things where it’s like, ‘Hey, keep this thing alive, even though like no one cares about this anymore.'” However, he apparently quickly realized he spoke out of turn and added, “All respect to the ballet and opera people out there. I just lost 14 cents in viewership. I’m taking shots for no reason.”
However, Chalamet has previously expressed unfavorable views about opera. On The Graham Norton Show in 2019, while expressing his love for films, the Oscar-nominated actor admitted that when he was younger, he feared the prospect of cinema becoming like opera, which he labeled “outdated.” Oddly enough, none of the fellow guests sitting beside him asked him about it. Also, that year, at a screening of “The King”, the actor called opera and ballet “kind of a dying art form.”
