Denis Villeneuve and Timothée Chalamet have had quite the ride together in the wild world of filmmaking. They were all over the headlines for teaming up in the Dune series, but did you know that the 56-year-old once said no to the actor?
He thought Chalamet didn’t fit the bill for a role in Prisoners because of his physique. Yet, destiny worked in mysterious ways, and they ended up collaborating anyway. It was a classic Hollywood tale of ups and downs, where even big names like them faced rejection and tough competition for the spotlight.
Denis Villeneuve Rejected Timothée Chalamet’s Role In Prisoners
Denis Villeneuve turned down Timothée Chalamet for a role in Prisoners. The 28-year-old, a rising actor looking to grow in his career, wanted to appear in Villeneuve’s movie. Despite Chalamet’s hopes, Villeneuve said no. In a later interview with GQ, the filmmaker revealed,
“When they met to discuss [‘Dune’], Villeneuve told Timothée how happy he was to finally meet the young actor. And Timothée had to remind him that they’d met before when Timothée read for Villeneuve’s Prisoners.”
Villeneuve said that meeting Chalamet for the first time was a wonderful moment. Further, the Canadian filmmaker added,
“He did a great audition, but he didn’t physically fit the part. He was probably swearing at me because I didn’t take him.”
Interestingly, Chalamet and Villeneuve teamed up for Dune, now a blockbuster franchise. It proves that missing an opportunity doesn’t mean it’s over.
Notably, this wasn’t the first time Chalamet’s face was rejected; he’d missed out on a role in another major franchise.
Timothée Chalamet Nearly Landed The Role Of Spider-Man
The Wonka star nearly became Spider-Man. It’s pretty common for big-name entertainers to have roles in comic book movies these days. But, believe it or not, some stars admit to trying out for roles they didn’t get.
Chalamet’s one of them; he went for Spidey. Back in 2018, Chalamet was riding high by winning the Best Actor award at the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards for his performance in Call Me By Your Name, During his acceptance speech, he let slip about his Spidey audition.
He said, “I read twice and I left sweating in a total panic.” He was so bummed about how it went that he considered it a return to give it another shot.
But his agent talked him out of it, letting him know the story of Sean Youthful, who frightened everybody away when she appeared in a Catwoman costume trying to land the role. The actor disclosed,
“I called my agent, [UTA’s] Brian Swardstrom, and I said, Brian, I thought about this a lot and I have to go back and knock on that door and read again,’and he told me the story of Sean Young and how in an attempt to become Catwoman had scared everyone away when she showed up at the studio gates in costume.”
Despite missing out on Spidey, Chalamet is still making names in Hollywood. This close call with a superhero role just adds another juicy bit to his already impressive career.
