Timothée Chalamet has yet to star in a superhero movie, which might have to do with the career advice he received from Leonardo DiCaprio.
“Well, Leonardo DiCaprio said to me, ‘No superhero movies, no hard drugs.’ Which I thought was very good,” Chalamet told The New York Times of his Don’t Look Up costar in an interview published on Wednesday, February 21. “I follow them both! But the movie that made me want to act is a superhero movie, The Dark Knight. If the script was great, if the director was great, I’d have to consider it.”
Chalamet initially shared this career advice in a 2022 interview with British Vogue, where he revealed that DiCaprio had told him: “No hard drugs and no superhero movies.”
While he has adhered to this advice, the Dune: Part Two actor has been open about the impact Christopher Nolan’s 2008 Batman adaptation, The Dark Knight, had on his career.
“When I was 12 years old, after attending one of my sister Pauline’s [ballet] performances, I petitioned my Mom and grandma to see Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight with me,” Chalamet said in 2018 while accepting an award for Call Me By Your Name at the New York Film Critics Circle Awards.
“We went to AMC Empire 25 in Times Square for a 7:30 screening,” he continued. “I left that theater a changed man, and I’m serious about that. Heath Ledger’s performance in that film was visceral and viral to me, and I now had the acting bug.”
Chalamet has not dipped his toe into the superhero genre, but he is no stranger to a franchise. After starring as Paul Atreides in Denis Villanueve’s 2021 sci-fi epic, Dune: Part One, he will reprise the role in the sequel, Dune: Part Two, which hits theaters March 1.
His Dune costars, however, can’t say the same. Both Florence Pugh and Zendaya have taken major roles in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Zendaya has starred as Michelle “MJ” Jones in the MCU’s Spider-Man movies since Homecoming in 2017. Pugh, who first appeared as Yelena Belova in 2021’s Black Widow alongside Scarlett Johansson, will reprise the role in 2025’s Thunderbolts movie.
The cast of Dune: Part Two — including Chalamet, Pugh, Zendaya, Léa Seydoux and Austin Butler — attended the sequel’s New York City premiere on Sunday, February 25. Part Two picks up where Part One left off as Paul Atreides (Chalamet) and the Freman prepare for war against the villainous House Harkonnen.
