Timothée Chalamet on the Career Advice Leonardo DiCaprio Gave Him

Dune: Part Two star Timothée Chalamet revealed in a recent New York Times interview the two pieces of advice Leonardo DiCaprio gave him in regards to his acting career.

“Well, Leonardo DiCaprio said to me, ‘No superhero movies, no hard drugs.’ Which I thought was very good,” Chalamet explained when asked if he’d had the opportunity to play superheroes.

While noting that he’s followed both pieces of DiCaprio’s advice to date, the Wonka star said it was a caped crusader who first inspired him to get into the business. “The movie that made me want to act is a superhero movie, The Dark Knight,” he said.

As a result, it would be hard for him to turn down a superhero movie if the project appealed to him artistically, rather than just commercially. “If the script was great, if the director was great, I’d have to consider it,” Chalamet explained.

Chalamet has steered away from superhero movies and pre-established franchises in general. As opposed to Dune co-stars Zendaya, Florence Pugh, Dave Bautista, and Jason Momoa, who respectively joined the Marvel and DC universes well into their runs, Chalamet has focused his attention on lower-budget movies. When he’s undertaken a blockbuster, such as Dune or Wonka, they’ve been properties that aren’t part of an existing cinematic universe.

But before Call Me By Your Name made him a star, Chalamet actually did throw his hat into the superhero ring, albeit without success. The actor auditioned for the title role in Spider-Man: Homecoming for Marvel back in 2015, but lost the role to Tom Holland. He told the story of his audition to the attendees at 2018’s Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards, via The Hollywood Reporter.

“I read twice and I left sweating in a total panic,” Chalamet recalled. “I called my agent, [UTA’s] Brian Swardstrom, and I said, ‘Brian, I thought about this a lot and I have to go back and knock on that door and read again,’ and he told me the story of [Blade Runner star] Sean Young and how in an attempt to become Catwoman she had scared everyone away when she showed up at the studio gates in costume.”

While the experience may have scared him away from pursuing superhero roles, everything seems to have worked out just fine for Chalamet and his career. He got to work with Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan on Interstellar (2014) before being nominated for Best Actor in 2018 for his turn in Call Me By Your Name.

Dune: Part Two arrives in cinemas on Friday.