Timothée Chalamet Movie Transformation (Photo Credit – Instagram)
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Timothée Chalamet’s rise has been as dramatic and stylish as one of his red carpet-looks. He started as the indie scene’s favorite artsy boy, soft-spoken, floppy-haired, and constantly heartbroken in sun-drenched landscapes. Fast forward a few years, and he’s now leading box office juggernauts, riding space worms in Dune: Part Two, and rapping his way through chocolate factories in Wonka.
Somehow, he managed to stay both a fashion icon and a total goofball (we’re still not over Lil Timmy Tim). With collaborations spanning from Greta Gerwig to Denis Villeneuve, he has officially entered that rare actor zone where people will show up just to watch him stare moodily into the distance. So, whether you’ve been following him since Call Me By Your Name or hopped on the hype train post-Interstellar, it’s time to rank the hits, the near-misses, and everything in between. Chalamet hive, assemble.
2014 – Men, Women & Children
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Timothée Chalamet plays Danny Vance, a high school student caught up in the quiet digital dramas of suburban life. While not a huge part of the ensemble cast, his performance adds emotional depth to the complicated web of teen angst, internet obsession, and family dysfunction. It’s a baby step into the big leagues, and while the movie didn’t light up the box office, Chalamet’s screen time offered a glimpse of the nuanced, vulnerable characters he would later become known for playing.
In one of his earliest and briefest roles, Chalamet plays Young Tom Cooper, the teenage son of Matthew McConaughey’s astronaut character. Though he shares limited screen time, his presence grounds the film in emotional reality before the plot launches into black hole metaphysics. While Casey Affleck later takes over as older Tom, Chalamet’s early scenes help root the father-son storyline. It’s a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it role, but hey, it’s Nolan. And every second counts when you’re part of a space epic.
2014 – Worst Friends
Chalamet appears in flashbacks as young Sam, a mini version of the main character in this dark comedy about adult friendship, dysfunction, and grudges. He doesn’t get a lot of screen time, but his role helps build the emotional backstory that fuels the film’s present-day awkwardness. It’s one of those tiny early performances that barely registers unless you’re a full-blown Chalamaniac doing a career rewatch. Still, he delivers the sincerity and confusion of youth with surprising ease, a sign of things to come.
2015 – One & Two
Timothée stars as Zac, a broody teen with literal teleportation powers in this moody indie sci-fi. He and his sister are trapped in a rural home under their strict father’s control, and their otherworldly abilities serve as metaphors for escape and rebellion. The film didn’t get massive attention, but Chalamet starts to come into his own here, blending teenage angst with supernatural flair. Think X-Men meets Terrence Malick vibes. It’s a weird little gem with big “watch this kid” energy.
2015 – The Adderall Diaries
Chalamet plays the teenage version of Stephen Elliott (with James Franco as adult Stephen) in this fragmented, moody adaptation of Elliott’s memoir. It’s a story about memory, trauma, and unreliable narration, and Chalamet’s brief flashback scenes give the adult character emotional context. He doesn’t have much screen time, but he leans into the confusion and hurt with quiet conviction. It’s another stepping-stone role, but it proves he could hold his own even in films packed with more established stars.
2015 – Love the Coopers
As Charlie Cooper, Chalamet joins a very large, very chaotic family gathering for the holidays. It’s a cheesy ensemble comedy, but his subplot involves getting caught making out in the school janitor’s closet, which is peak teen movie behavior. He plays the angsty high schooler role well, wearing heartbreak and hormones like a slightly-too-tight Christmas sweater. It’s not a standout performance by any means, but it’s another notch on his belt in the “moody-but-endearing young man” acting lane he was already making his own.
2016- Miss Stevens
Before the sandworms and sassy sugar factories, Timmy was a high school heartbreaker with a poetry soul. In Miss Stevens, he plays Billy, a troubled teen with too many feelings and just enough charm to make your English teacher cry. It’s a small film with big emotional punches, and Chalamet brings brooding vulnerability with a side of “I wrote you a haiku.” This was the first real taste of his leading man potential, sad eyes, awkward smirks, and a Shakespeare monologue that low-key slaps.
2017- Call Me by Your Name
This one catapulted Chalamet straight into the indie hall of fame (and everyone’s crush list). As Elio, a teenage boy falling in love over an Italian summer, he gave us piano concertos, peach drama, and one of the greatest crying-by-a-fireplace scenes in cinema history. It’s raw, delicate, and brimming with longing, and somehow Timmy made it all look effortless. He was nominated for an Oscar at just 22, and deservedly so. Elio was proof that Chalamet doesn’t act, he becomes, with cheekbones and heartbreak.
2017- Hot Summer Nights
This movie is what happens when you take a sweet boy and toss him into a neon-drenched 1980s crime spiral. Chalamet plays Daniel, a nerd-turned-drug-dealer with a summer romance and way too much sweat for one movie. It’s chaotic, stylish, and a little unhinged, basically the cinematic equivalent of drinking soda after dark. Timmy shifts gears fast here, showing he can go from innocent to edgy without skipping a beat. Critics were mixed, but we were all watching those curls blow in the Cape Cod breeze.
2017- Lady Bird
Every artsy school had one: the emotionally unavailable, cigarette-smoking, “I don’t believe in money” dude with a band. That’s Kyle, and Timmy plays him so well you’ll want to slap him and write him love poems at the same time. He’s the walking definition of red flag energy, but somehow he makes Lady Bird (and us) swoon with his anti-capitalist nonsense and soft-spoken angst. It’s a supporting role, but he nails it, just the right dose of cringe, charisma, and performative coolness.
2017- Hostiles
Timmy trades love letters and mixtapes for a rifle and a tragic end in this gritty Western. He plays a fresh-faced soldier riding alongside Christian Bale’s hardened captain, and spoiler alert: things don’t go great for him. It’s a brief appearance, but Chalamet brings just enough sweetness to make his fate sting. He’s the hopeful glimmer in an otherwise bleak and bloody film. If Lady Bird was your indie softboy starter pack, Hostiles said, “Hope you didn’t get too attached.”
2018- Beautiful Boy
Warning: watching this will wreck you emotionally. Timothée plays Nic Sheff, a bright, sensitive teen battling addiction, opposite Steve Carell as his heartbroken father. It’s gut-wrenching and raw, with Timmy delivering one of his most powerful performances to date. He’s twitchy, vulnerable, and painfully real, turning the chaos of relapse and recovery into art. This isn’t the moody dreamboat from Italy anymore; it’s Timmy stripped down to bone and soul. Awards didn’t come, but respect sure did, this was him proving he’s not just a pretty face with great hair.
2019- A Rainy Day in New York
If Wes Anderson and Gossip Girl had a love child, it would be Gatsby Welles, complete with umbrella strolls, literary snobbery, and existential crises in luxury hotels. Chalamet plays the neurotic, lovelorn protagonist in this rom-com-meets-noir from Woody Allen (yes, that Woody Allen). It’s very “artsy boy loses girl, finds himself in a jazz bar,” with Timmy leaning fully into the old-school New Yorker vibe. Whether you love or loathe the film, there’s no denying he rocks a trench coat and typewriter energy like no one else.
2019- The King
Timmy goes full Shakespeare-core in this gritty historical drama. As Henry V, he ditches the floppy-haired poet vibe and embraces the sword-swinging brooding monarch life. He starts out as a rebellious prince who’d rather drink than rule, but when duty calls, he slips into the crown, and a British accent, like a pro. Chalamet’s take on the role is moody, modern, and magnetic, serving quiet intensity rather than big speeches. Bonus: he faces off against a scene-stealing Robert Pattinson with a French accent so wild it deserves its own IMDb page.
2019- Little Women
If there were a trophy for Best Literary Boyfriend Energy, Chalamet as Laurie would win it, lose it, and win your heart anyway. In Greta Gerwig’s gorgeously chaotic adaptation, Laurie is the ultimate rich, lonely neighbor boy with big feelings and even bigger dance moves. Timmy gives Laurie charm, mischief, and real heartbreak, especially in that rejected proposal scene with Saoirse Ronan’s Jo. It’s tender, silly, swoony, and somehow still devastating. You’ll want him to end up with everyone and no one all at once.
2021- The French Dispatch
In this Wes Anderson fever dream, Chalamet plays Zeffirelli, a rebellious student revolutionary with a typewriter, a manifesto, and a shirt allergy. It’s peak artsy Timmy, he delivers long monologues with tragic eyes and writes love letters like they’re war declarations. His chemistry with Frances McDormand is weirdly perfect, and his revolution is part performance art, part teenage angst. You’re not always sure what he’s rebelling against, but you’re into it anyway. Zeffirelli is the kind of guy who’d hand you a pamphlet and a poem, then ghost you for the cause.
2021- Dune
Timmy trades flower crowns for destiny and desert storms in Denis Villeneuve’s epic sci-fi saga. As Paul Atreides, he’s a brooding space prince with prophetic dreams and the weight of a galaxy on his shoulders. He whispers, he stares into the void, and he learns to fight with both knives and feelings. With those cheekbones and that serious gaze, Chalamet makes interplanetary politics look hot. Watching Paul go from quiet heir to messianic warrior is like watching a slow-burn supernova, and you just know things are going to get way more intense in Part Two. With a worldwide box office gross of $410,668,018, the saga is proving to be a cosmic hit. (Box Office Mojo).
2021- Don’t Look Up
Chalamet shows up late but steals the show as Yule, a skater boy turned unlikely end-of-the-world boyfriend. With greasy hair, leather jackets, and sudden deep thoughts about God, he’s the philosophical dirtbag of your apocalypse dreams. In a movie full of big stars yelling about comets and climate change, Timmy brings a weird, sincere calm to the chaos. He vibes through disaster with Jennifer Lawrence and even says grace in the final scene. Somehow, Yule is both absurd and kinda profound, like if Gen Z made a saint out of a gas station cashier.
2022- Bones and All
Romance, road trips, and… cannibalism? Timmy dives deep into twisted tenderness as Lee, a lonely drifter with a dark secret and a soft heart. With shaggy hair and haunted eyes, he brings vulnerability to a role that could’ve been pure creep. Instead, you end up weirdly rooting for him, yes, even when he’s discussing eating people. It’s part horror, part tragic love story, and somehow Timothée makes it work. Lee is a broken soul searching for belonging in a world that wants him hidden, and Timmy delivers it all with rawness, angst, and eerie beauty.
2023- Wonka
Ever wondered what Willy Wonka was like before he started traumatizing kids with chocolate rivers? Timothée serves up a prequel full of whimsy, weirdness, and surprisingly smooth raps. He plays a young, dream-chasing chocolatier with big eyes, bigger dreams, and a voice that somehow makes rhyming about cocoa feel profound. It’s part musical, part fashion show, part fever dream, and Timmy makes it work like a magical Pinterest board come to life. He dances, he sings, he charms, and yes, he does it all in that purple velvet coat without ever losing his indie edge. With a worldwide box office gross of $634,502,312, audiences are clearly eating it up. (Box Office Mojo)
2024- Dune: Part Two
He’s no longer just a space prince with dreams, he’s a full-on messiah now, riding sandworms like a pro and plotting galactic revenge. In Dune: Part Two, Timmy’s Paul Atreides goes full prophecy mode. He’s intense, tormented, and magnetic as ever, balancing love, legacy, and some seriously trippy spice visions. This time, he’s leading armies, breaking hearts, and deciding the fate of empires, all while looking like the cover of a space-themed GQ issue. Timmy brings gravitas and grit to the role, making Paul’s descent into destiny feel like a Shakespearean spiral in IMAX. With a worldwide box office gross of $714,644,358, it’s clear that audiences are just as captivated by his transformation as critics. (Box Office Mojo).
2024- A Complete Unknown
He’s swapping the spice for a harmonica. In this biopic, Timmy takes on the role of Bob Dylan during his electric era, and yes, he’s actually singing. Expect curls, cryptic lyrics, and a lot of brooding stares across smoky cafés. While it hasn’t hit theaters yet, early buzz says Timmy’s transformation into the folk legend is uncanny. From the twangy voice to the revolutionary vibes, it’s set to be a soulful, swagger-filled performance. Bonus points: he’s also producing the film, proving once again that Timmy isn’t just riding the fame train, he’s driving it. Worldwide box office: $139,443,088. (Box Office Mojo).
Note: Box office numbers are based on estimates and various sources. Numbers have not been independently verified by Koimoi.
