Timothée Chalamet Balances Fame and Love in Low-Key Romance with Kylie Jenner

Standing before his peers at L.A’s Shrine Auditorium, the 29-year-old didn’t downplay the work he put in to play legendary musician Bob Dylan in the biopic A Complete Unknown. “The truth is, I’m really in pursuit of greatness,” he said, name-checking GOATS such as Michael B. Jordan, Viola Davis and Daniel Day-Lewis. The award, he said, was “a little more fuel – a little more ammo to keep going.”

The speech went viral – not unlike many of Timothée’s awards-season efforts. From his moody social media posts to throwing down on ESPN’s College GameDay to appearing as the host and musical guest on Saturday Night Live, he’s managed to promote himself and his movie without seeming to try hard (take note, Bradley Cooper and Anne Hathaway!). Adding to his mystique, the Oscar nominee for Call Me by Your Name has quietly been dating reality royal Kylie Jenner for the past two years. In a sea of action heroes, he’s managed to stand out, all while seeming to have the best time. “He’s regarded as sincere and a little shy,” an insider tells Star. “In an industry that favors muscles and good looks, his talent and confidence tend to override those qualities.”

A Tough Lifestyle

He’s certainly got artsy cred. Timothée grew up in New York City’s Theater District in a federally subsidized building for artists, with his French journalist father, Marc Chalamet, dancer mom Nicole Flender and sister Pauline Chalamet, a star of Max’s Sex Lives of College Girls. (Bilingual, the family spent summers in France.) Reflecting on his upbringing, Timothée told 60 Minutes that living among struggling artists “truthfully made me scared of acting, because it’s a tough lifestyle, and a lot of people aren’t doing fantastically.”

His acting fears were silenced by one person who deeply believed in his talent – LaGuardia High School acting teacher Harry Shifman. After Timothée auditioned and was passed over for entrance to the prestigious school for the performing arts, Shifman advocated for the teen to be admitted, and they remain close to this day. Timothée has called his time at LaGuardia as life-changing, “If I would have had to go to a different high school,” he admitted, “I wouldn’t have been an actor.”

By the time he landed 2014’s Interstellar, he’d dropped out of college and focused entirely on acting.

Hollywood Success

Timothée’s Hollywood rise has been nothing short of meteoric. His standout performance in Call Me by Your Name (2017), followed by his performances in Lady Bird and Beautiful Boy, proved both his acting versatility and his dedication to his craft. Though Leonardo DiCaprio, one of his acting heroes, once advised him, “No hard drugs, no superhero movies,” he did appear in the blockbuster Dune flicks. But it was the career defining role of Dylan in A Complete Unknown that clinched him as one of the go-to actors of his generation. Learning to sing and play the guitar and harmonica, he threw himself into embodying the musical pioneer, earning the approval of Dylan himself. “I had three months of my life to play Bob Dylan, after five years of preparing to play him,” Timothée told Rolling Stone. “So while I was in it, that was my eternal focus.”

Not that he’s entirely self-serious. In October, the Wonka star surprised fans by showing up at a look-alike contest in NYC’s Washington Square Park then posing with the winner, Miles Mitchell, at the Golden Globes.

Next up in Marty Supreme, the story of American table tennis legend Marty Reisman-he stars alongside Gwyneth Paltrow, Sandra Bernhard, Tyler, the Creator, and Fran Drescher – Timothée is definitely the man of the moment. But one role that piques the most fan interest is his relationship with mom-of-two makeup mogul and Kardashians star Kylie. While their PDA on rare public outings sets tongues wagging, a source says the relationship is the real deal. “He’s really fallen for Kylie, and they’ve made it work, to the surprise of everyone,” says the insider. “But one thing you won’t likely see is Timothée putting their relationship on display on her family’s show!”