The Boy King
New York magazine|December 4-17, 2023
He could be our next great leading man-if he can figure out what kind he wants to be.
ALISON WILLMORE
The Boy King

IT WAS Miss Stevens that convinced me Timothée Chalamet was going to be a movie star. I'd seen him onscreen before he had a recurring role in the second season of Homeland but Julia Hart's 2016 indie about a high-school drama competition was the first time I'd lingered through the credits to confirm his name. I had a feeling I'd be hearing it a lot.

He plays a kid named Billy, the most talented and most troubled of three students being chaperoned by the titular young teacher. At 19, Chalamet was able to put the childlike softness his face still had to great use, coming across as one of the adults or collapsing into boyishness. The movie withholds the sight of Billy performing until late, when he blows the roof off the auditorium with a monologue from Death of a Salesman. The material is comically mature for a teen, but when Chalamet directs his heavy-lidded gaze toward the camera, he doesn't look like a kid playing dress-up. His conviction leaves you as worried about Billy as you are impressed by him-he's not supposed to be able to relate to those themes of accrued disappointment so deeply. Not yet.

This story is from the December 4-17, 2023 edition of New York magazine.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the December 4-17, 2023 edition of New York magazine.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM NEW YORK MAGAZINEView All
What Did Brooklyn Bridge Park Get So Right?
New York magazine

What Did Brooklyn Bridge Park Get So Right?

Nearly 20 years after we broke ground, it's more impressive than ever.

time-read
3 mins  |
July 1-14, 2024
No Man's Land
New York magazine

No Man's Land

Rachel Cusk's gender fundamentalism fully surfaces in her latest novel, Parade.

time-read
10+ mins  |
July 1-14, 2024
Faust Goes to Fidi
New York magazine

Faust Goes to Fidi

The producers of Sleep No More are back with the whirlwind immersive-theater project Life and Trust.

time-read
3 mins  |
July 1-14, 2024
The Renegade
New York magazine

The Renegade

June Squibb has the perfect first lead role: a granny gone rogue.

time-read
8 mins  |
July 1-14, 2024
The Empty Seat
New York magazine

The Empty Seat

At Paris Couture Week, one question everyone's lips: Who will lead Chanel?

time-read
8 mins  |
July 1-14, 2024
The Hidden Dutch Colonial
New York magazine

The Hidden Dutch Colonial

When Nicholas Howey and his late husband, Gerard Widdershoven, bought this 1925 house tucked away behind the hedges in Bridgehampton, they did little more than paint it-and fill it with art.

time-read
2 mins  |
July 1-14, 2024
The Next Shishito?
New York magazine

The Next Shishito?

Jimmy Nardello peppers, long beloved by chefs, are set to break out.

time-read
2 mins  |
July 1-14, 2024
The Shrimp Show
New York magazine

The Shrimp Show

San Sabino makes maximalist seafood for the social-media age.

time-read
3 mins  |
July 1-14, 2024
The WEIGHT of a BOEING 787
New York magazine

The WEIGHT of a BOEING 787

Mitch Barnett spent years fighting one of the world's largest aircraft manufacturers. It cost him his life.

time-read
10+ mins  |
July 1-14, 2024
By age 43, I'd come up with many explanations for my perpetual strangeness with other people. - Then the autism diagnosis arrived.
New York magazine

By age 43, I'd come up with many explanations for my perpetual strangeness with other people. - Then the autism diagnosis arrived.

SIX YEARS AGO, my now-husband, Sam, asked my father if he could marry me.

time-read
10+ mins  |
July 1-14, 2024