Charlize Theron is censuring Timothée Chalamet over his “very reckless” comments concerning the popularity of ballet and opera, saying artificial intelligence will soon be able to replace actors’ performances but could never be a substitute for the classical performing arts.
The matter came up in an interview with The New York Times, where the Oscar-winning Monster actress recalled “dance is probably one of the hardest things I ever did. Dancers are superheroes. What they put their bodies through in complete silence.”
When reporter Lulu Garcia-Navarro joked, “sorry, Timothée Chalamet,” Theron said, “Oh, boy, I hope I run into him one day. I feel like 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. But in about 10 years, I think AI 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 shit on other art forms. How about we start with that?”
“I think that [dance is] one of the most disciplined things that I’ve done,” she continued. “It taught me discipline. It taught me structure. It taught me hard work. It taught me to be tough. It’s borderline abusive. 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 mindset of just, you don’t give up, there’s no other option, you’re going, you keep going.”
The Academy Award-nominated Marty Supreme star found himself in hot water in early March for saying “no one cares” about ballet and opera and that he doesn’t wish to be a niche artist. In the aftermath of the flub, Chalamet was flooded with show invites by ballet and opera companies. He was also thoroughly critiqued by his peers, some of whom had harsher words than others. The hullabaloo fed the online churn of commentary for weeks, and was also addressed by Oscars host Conan O’Brien in his opening monologue. “Security is extremely tight tonight. I’m told there are concerns about attacks from both the opera and ballet communities,” the former late-night host said.
Post Academy Awards, The Daily Show host Jon Stewart joked of Chalamet’s loss to Michael B. Jordan in the Best Actor race: “As of last night, it is clear that opera and ballet have defeated Timothée Chalamet. No contest. A knockout! Even before they brought out prima ballerina Misty Copeland in the middle of the Sinners performance right in front of him.”
