Charlize Theron says she hopes to meet Timothée Chalamet one day so she can set him straight over his disparaging remarks about ballet and opera.
Last month, the Oscar-nominated Marty Supreme star, 30, faced a wave of criticism after suggesting that “no one cares” about ballet and opera.
Theron, 50, a former ballet dancer, weighed in on the controversy in a new interview with The New York Times, calling out Chalamet.
“Oh, boy, I hope I run into him one day,” the Oscar-winning Monster actor said. “That was a very reckless comment on an art form, two art forms, that we need to lift up constantly because, yes, they do have a hard time.”
She predicted that “in 10 years, A.I. is going to be able to do Timothée’s job, but it will not be able to replace a person on a stage dancing live.”
“And we shouldn’t [expletive] on other art forms,” Theron insisted, declaring that “dancers are superheroes.”
Admitting that “dance is probably one of the hardest things I ever did,” the South African Mad Max: Fury Road actor credited the art form for instilling in her “discipline, structure and hard work.”
However, Theron further acknowledged that dance is “borderline abusive,” recalling: “There were several times that I had blood infections from blisters that just never healed. And you don’t get a day off. I’m literally talking about bleeding through your shoes. And that’s something that you have to practice every single day, the mind-set of just, you don’t give up, there’s no other option, you keep going.”
The Independent has contacted Chalamet’s representative for comment.
Last month, Chalamet drew the ire of the ballet and opera worlds for negative comments he made during a live conversation for Variety in February.
Joined by his Interstellar co-star Matthew McConaughey, Chalamet was speaking about viewers’ diminishing attention spans when he said: “I don’t want to be working in ballet or opera where it’s like, ‘Hey! Keep this thing alive, even though no one cares about this anymore.’
“All respect to the ballet and opera people out there,” the Dune star added, laughing. “I just lost 14 cents in viewership. I’m taking shots for no reason.”
His observation led to widespread criticism from artists around the world, with British opera star Camilla Kerslake calling his comments “shocking and hurtful” to the community.
A spokesperson for the Royal Ballet and Opera also highlighted ballet and opera’s impact on cinema, saying: “Ballet and opera have never existed in isolation, they have continually informed, inspired, and elevated other art forms.”
His divisive comments later led to an “immediate boost” in ticket sales for the Royal Ballet and Opera (RBO), its chief executive recently revealed.
“The public reaction was just fantastic. I thought it important that we didn’t issue a kind of hoity-toity response to Chalamet,” RBO chief Alex Beard told The London Times. “We simply said ‘Take a look at what we’re doing, mate’ — for instance, the fact that the largest portion of our audience by age is 20 to 30-year-olds. And you know what? Our post got two-and-a-half million engagements and half a million shares, just on Instagram. And our ticket sales got an immediate boost. So cheers, Timmy!”