Timothée Chalamet and Matthew McConaughey walked out to applause during the Variety & CNN Town Hall Event at the University of Texas, but near the end of their 70-minute conversation made careless comments about live performance arts.
In a rambling conversation about their work—separately and as co-stars—and experiences as actors, McConaughey and Chalamet weigh in on what’s required of actors and how to perform their best. We get great advice from McConaughey on delivering convincing performances as well as his generous understanding of the position of college students studying TV and film. Chalamet reflects on his decision to pursue acting and people who doubted his commitment and level of education.
The conversation between two, albeit very famous, professionals is pretty typical of a guest presentation at a university. Many of these conversations rely on personal experiences and sharing career success, so there is bound to be some ego, even if the presenter is only acting ego to be funny and entertaining. Unfortunately, Chalamet’s ego comes at the expense of others, and while he won’t reveal the names of directors he found patronizing or those who doubted his ability to succeed as an actor, he will make sloppy jokes that name ballet and opera as arts that “nobody cares about” to make his point.
“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 gotta keep this genre alive,’” he said to McConaughey, “and another part of me feels like if people want to see it, like Barbie, like Oppenheimer, they’re going to go see it and go out of their way to be loud and proud about it. 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.’ All respect to all the ballet and opera people out there.”
The problem isn’t so much Chalamet’s comment, especially if you look beyond the headlines to know that he is responding to McConaughey’s concerns about audience patience, attention, and diminshing first acts in TV and film. The problem is his willingness to let ballet and opera take the blow and to laugh it off afterward. “I just lost 14 cents in viewership,” he joked. “I just took shots for no reason.”
Chalamet’s point is real. Diminishing attention spans are impacting the arts, and while, as he cites, Gen Z loves movies more than ever, they aren’t so sure about live performances outside of concerts. What Chalamet’s comment misunderstands and misrepresents is that it is not about care. Younger audiences love theater. The streaming numbers and TikTok trends surrounding musical soundtracks are enough to prove that.
Unfortunately, Gen Z theatergoers are deterred by ticket prices which they assume, often incorrectly, are too high. Broadway News reported on a 2025 study that shared that not only are Gen Z theater fans intimidated by overestimated theater ticket prices, they are also underestimating the cost of running Broadway shows. “Respondents initially indicated they would choose to spend, on average, $141 on a single Broadway ticket. Upon informing the respondents that a Broadway show can cost from $600,000 to over $1 million per week to produce, the average amount a young person was willing to spend on a ticket jumped over three and a half times to $512.”
If young theater fans don’t know what they’re getting, why would they ever be willing to pay for it? We are constantly told about the millions spent to make movies, so spending a movie ticket, which averaged $16.08 in 2025, seems like a fair deal, and concert tickets gain value from the excitement of loud, live music, FOMO, and just the opportunity to share a room with your favorite artist. So no, it’s not that “nobody cares about this anymore.” The arts are facing exactly the kind of miseducation and misdirected attention that McConaughey and Chalemet were worried about, but Chalamet’s prioritized his own stage presence at the town hall over sharing that message.
Outside of being disrespectful of the technicians, creatives, and performers who keep ballet, opera, and musical theater not just alive but engaging for audiences, Timothée’s comments ignore the fundamental relationship between theater and film, and that caring for one means caring for both. The work he mentions behind the scenes, the long days and longer weeks, and the teams that are required to make movies like the films that have built his career are built on the stamina of centuries of theater. Earlier in the conversation, Timothée even referenced his musical theater background and its influence on how he understands films and portrays characters.
Timotheé Chalamet should know better, and maybe he does. His comment come after points that directly highlight the power of the arts he claims are dying. He compares acting to the Olympics, inviting listeners to consider the emotional strain and stamina actors must build. These feelings are as he says, “from the heart.” They take skill and attention to detail to perform well. Why would we imagine that these feats, which are ultimately performed in person for directors, producers, camera crews, and other actors, long before they are seen on screens, are more valuable than the performances that only ever exist on a stage, with the added pressure of a live audience?
Chalamet also shared that he didn’t think Wonka “got a fair shake” and wasn’t taken seriously as a family movie despite its overall success in theaters. Taking the lead in Wonka was what Chalamet calls a “punk rock” decision to make a light-hearted movie despite already cementing himself as a serious actor. His comments make it seem as though he enjoyed Wonka and cared about it—though he does reference its financial success rather than any specific quality of the film. It makes you wonder if Chalamet has considered that “saving a genre” isn’t about begging audiences to see potential. It’s about making sure they know what they’re getting.
A little less than halfway through the conversation, Chalamet said, “I don’t wanna move in fear,” referring to the role that coached conversations and promotions play in acting in major films. “I wanna move in confidence and joy.” Where is the joy in deciding which arts are better than others? It’s clear that Chalamet takes inspiration from other actors. It’s clear that he takes inspiration from talented athletes. So many of his points during the Town Hall rely on an understanding that not all work is appreciated, and that’s part of what makes meaningful stories important, yet when it comes to performing arts, he chooses to reinforce, or at least laugh off, that underappreciation rather than emphasizing their value the way he does Wonka, Michael Jordan, WWE (which he compares to Greek theater).
Maybe his position comes from fear. In response to a question about rising concerns about AI in film and TV, Chalamet said, “I’m fiercely protective of actors and artists, artisans, you know, in this industry. And equally to my point about opera and ballet and stuff, it’s like, whatever tide is coming is coming.” Like all of us, Timotheé Chalamet sees dangers approaching the arts, and low attendance is as much of a threat as artists being replaced. Saying “no one cares” suggests that he’s not afraid, but it’s clear he’s just as scared as any of us about losing our most valuable avenues of expression.
As Taylor Swift’s backup dancer Kam Saunders said when Chalamet’s comment started making headlines, “Yikes.” And yeah, the comment is embarrassing. Not because we should “save the arts,” but because someone who could be described as a “quad threat” should know that there’s power in enthusiasm for the things we create, no matter the medium.