Timothee Chalamet had never read ‘Little Women’ when he was cast as Laurie

'Beautiful Boy' Los Angeles Premiere - Arrivals

Here are some photos of Timothee Chalamet and Steve Carell at last night’s premiere of Beautiful Boy. Steve is doing his “silver fox professor” thing, but who can even see him? Timothee is perfect and I love him. I still have a crush on him. I’m still mad that he didn’t win the Oscar for Call Me By Your Name. Do you remember who did win? Gary Oldman, for his terrible portrayal of Winston Churchill. Timothee gave the performance of a generation and… yeah, I’m still mad. I feel like other people will become angrier about it in retrospect as the years go by and CMBYN becomes established as a masterpiece.

Anyway, Timothee wore a bright red Louis Vuitton suit to his big premiere. He looks a bit tired, and he probably was – he came to the premiere fresh from the Massachusetts set of Little Women, which is being directed by his Lady Bird director Greta Gerwig. Chalamet told Variety:

“They’ve started shooting, they’ve been very nice to me,” Chalamet said of the “Little Women” team. Chalamet is playing Laurie in Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of the classic novel by Louisa May Alcott. He told Variety‘s Marc Malkin he’s set to start shooting in a few weeks. “They’ve basically let me try and get [‘Beautiful Boy’] out to the world. I would do anything Greta wanted me to be a part of. I knew ‘Little Women’; I hadn’t read it. But I’ve read it since. I understood it to be a literary classic, but it’s crazy, day by day in the rehearsals, I get more imbued in the legend of it all. We’re shooting in the Massachusetts area where it was written, so we have a lot of people on the crew or that are just around that, like, the book is very dear to their heart and to their youths, as well.”

[From Variety]

WHAT ARE THEY TEACHING THE YOUTHS? I can’t believe Timothee made it to the age of 22 without reading Little Women in some kind of English literature class. How is that possible? Well, at least he’s read it now, and at least he’s getting into the story and history of it. I honestly believe he’ll be an incredible Laurie. It’s like a brand new take on Laurie too.

What else? In Beautiful Boy, Timmy plays a guy with a meth addiction and Carell plays his father. Timothee told Variety that the film was “tough” and that he lost 18 pounds before they shot the film. He also said: “These books are — I don’t want to be projecting anything — but they’re very profound and this is a very relevant thing a lot of people go through, and yet we don’t have a vocabulary to talk about it openly.” I love him.

'Beautiful Boy' Los Angeles Premiere - Arrivals

'Beautiful Boy' Los Angeles Premiere - Arrivals

Photos courtesy of WENN.

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33 Responses to “Timothee Chalamet had never read ‘Little Women’ when he was cast as Laurie”

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  1. Jerusha says:

    Gary Oldman’s makeup won the Oscar. Travesty! I would have been fine if he’d won for Tinker, Tailor, ….., but TC should have that Oscar for CMBYN.

    PS. I was a high school librarian for forty years and while Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Pride and Prejudice were on the reading lists, Little Women was not. I did keep several copies in the collection, though, for anyone who wanted to read it. In my day(c/o ‘62)classics by dead white men or dead white women were emphasized. Nowadays, there’s thankfully, more emphasis on multicultural literature. Also, there’s more YA lit being used in classes.

  2. Goldie says:

    I love Little Women and read it multiple times growing up. I never read it in school, though, just in my free time. There are so many classic novels, that not everything can fit into an English curriculum. It’s also on the longer side, so some schools might prefer not to teach it.

  3. Julia says:

    He is half-french, is it possible he studied in some sort of International/French school type of thing? I know that while we know about Little Women, we definitely don’t have to study it at school… cultural differences, it’s not a bad thing!

    • Erinn says:

      I’m Canadian, and 28. I have never read this book, never watched any version of the movie. It wasn’t part of our English curriculum.

      • Pamela says:

        Speak for yourself Erinn. I’m Canadian and I have read the book. It wasn’t on our curriculum, but it didn’t stop me from going to the library. I’ve seen all the movie versions.

      • ShinyGrenade says:

        I’m French-canadian, and even if Little Women was not part of our curriculum (mostly Québec or France littérature), I’ve read it, many times, and saw the movies.

        At some point, it is more an interest in book in general, than just a question of curriculum.

    • lamaga says:

      He went to La Guardia in NYC. I’m sure he studied privately as well and I know he summered in France, but I’m guessing his educational background is more music/theatre-laden, and a bit more avant than classical.

  4. skipper says:

    I absolutely adore Timothee! I just watched Hot Summer Nights and I enjoyed it. I can’t wait to see Beautiful Boy! I have read Nic and David Sheff’s books and they are amazing! I still don’t know how I feel about Timothee being in a relationship with Johnny Depp’s daughter. I hate the thought of him being associated with Johnny Depp in any way, shape or form.

    • Tale says:

      Oh, I hate this thought as well. Partly bc i loathe depp, partly bc im jealous (ha!). Lily Rose is not at fault for any of her fathers bs tho. I feel bad for girls in these situations…

      • skipper says:

        Trust me, Tale, I am completely jealous too! lol! I’m sure Lily Rose is an amazing young lady. I just despise Depp.

  5. BANANIE says:

    As I’m getting older I’m realizing how much my adolescent interpretations of books were influenced by my mother who has some very strong and over-the-top opinions. By the end of the book I despised Laurie and looking back I don’t see why at all. Oops.

    • lobbit says:

      Interesting! Why did you despise Laurie? I loved the character but his and Amy’s relationship was so off putting to me.

      • Anners says:

        I loved Laurie, but I could never reconcile his relationship with Amy. It just seemed too weird. I know he wanted to be a part of their family any way he could, but if he couldn’t marry Jo, then he should’ve found someone else from another family!

      • BaBaDook says:

        Yeah, I’ll never forgive Laurie for the Amy thing. So weird.

    • Bella Bella says:

      I loved Laurie and was heartbroken that he and Jo did not marry. In my mind they were just meant to be together and nothing else made sense.

  6. Mara says:

    I like Little Women but I find it a bit overrated to be honest. Its too saccharine and earnest in places, especially in the childhood chapters. Just my opinion, I completely understand and envy you if you love the book.

    • Becks1 says:

      Yeah I reread it this past year as part of a book club read and was really underwhelmed. In general it was always my least favorite LMA book – Old Fashioned Girl was my favorite – but even re-reading it I was surprised at how much I did not like it.

  7. Lucy says:

    Ah, sweet, lovely Timothee. Ansel Elgort will never be like you, no matter how hard he tries.

  8. little bird says:

    timothée IS perfect thank u!!! anyways my boy timmy and i are around the same age and i don’t think we read little women in any of my classes either. i’ve read it, but i think it was for extra credit when i was in middle school. never would have otherwise, honestly. as an aside, beautiful boy looks SO GOOD and now i really want to read the book

  9. Nikki says:

    I am actually really looking forward to watching “Beautiful Boy”–for those of you who haven’t heard of it, please watch the trailer on youtube. The movie looks promising, and i’m hoping to go sometime next week to the city to watch it with my sibling!

    Also, Timothee is a very promising young actor! I wish him best for his future!

  10. Penguen says:

    I live like 10 minutes away from the Alcott house – I need to go visit.

    If you’re ever in Concord, Ma, check it out! It’s where Louisa May Alcott lived when she wrote the book, loosely basing some of it on her family when they lived there.

  11. Hallie says:

    Love Timmy Tim!Though I would have it liked better if he went out with someone like Saoirse (talented, hardworking, not into partying,private person/not social media-crazy). But if the rumors are true about him and LRD, I just hope that it is not just for PR’s sake, and that he will continue to be serious about his craft and not get too distracted from his work.

    • Linn says:

      Who is LRD?

      • Jira says:

        It’s Lily Rose Depp, daughter of Johnny Depp and popular French actress/singer/model Vanessa Paradis. There are pics of her and Timmy spending time together in NY (one pic with his arm around her waist). I think these came out last week or so? They look cute together, but I am perhaps prejudiced as I view her as someone who is cast in films just because she is Johnny’s daughter (nobody so far is saying she has great talent or charisma) and she is working as a model, specifically for Chanel, yet she really is not that beautiful/has x-factor plus she is really short. If she didn’t have famous parents, there is no way she would have been offered these jobs. But other than that, she must be fun to be with.

  12. Bliss 51 says:

    I’m an old and Little Women was never taught in my school district. I read an abridged version of the book at age 9 and years later an unabridged version. In high school Silas Marner, The Scarlet Letter, Moby Dick (one of my favorites) and Pride and Prejudice were taught. Others as well. Gerwig and Little Women? I don’t think she’s all that. I never liked any of the movie versions of the book.

  13. Bliss 51 says:

    Oh BabaDook I just read your post, hahaha, some things can never be forgiven! Amy was such a mercenary creature. Years ago I read Deirdre Bair biography of Simone de Beavoir and Beauvoir in her youth read Little Women. Jo was her favorite character and dismayed at the Amy/Laurie pairing. The author of The Second Sex upset at the coupling of Amy and Laurie!

    http://crookedhouse.typepad.com/crookedhouse/2007/12/simone-de-beauv.html

  14. sassbr says:

    English major over here and privately educated-never read Little Women even once for school. Only read it because my mother insisted on it when i was young and I saw the Winona Ryder movie. Huckleberry Finn, however, I had to read more than once.

  15. Maddie says:

    I never read it school either

  16. anon says:

    Whatever. Everything this man says sounds so sweet and honest. I really love him and I can’t wait to watch him become huge and explore many different roles

  17. Meg says:

    He has an ‘old’ face-saw a buzzfeed article where people put his face in old paintings-fit perfectly

  18. ravynrobyn says:

    I’m ONLY here for the silver fox professor, lol, yummm.

    Thanks, Kaiser for having a picture of the Carell family, those kids are so grown up!

    I read an online article from Time w/ an incredible interview about BB with Steve & Tmothee who are interviewed by a writer in recovery. The interesting (and scariest) point they made about the movie is that as in real life, there is no Hollywood ending, happy or sad…there’s no ‘real’ resolution.

    Just realized TC looks EXACTLY like the “Laurie” drawn picture of the old book from my elementary school library. Wasn’t assigned, read by choice.