'We Know You Know Better:' Timothée Chalamet Called Out By His High School Principal Over Opera and Ballet Comments

Timothée Chalamet's grandmother was a Broadway dancer. So was his mother. His sister trained at the School of American Ballet. And last week, the 30-year-old actor sat in front of a live audience and declared that 'no one cares' about ballet or opera anymore.

His old high school principal had something to say about that.

Deepak Marwah, head of Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in New York, published an open letter on Friday responding to comments Chalamet made during a CNN and Variety Town Hall on 24 February. The actor had been discussing shrinking audience attention spans with Matthew McConaughey at the University of Texas at Austin when the conversation turned to which art forms deserve to survive.

'I don't want to be working in ballet or opera, or things where it's like, 'Hey, keep this thing alive.' Even though it's like, no one cares about this anymore,' Chalamet said, before adding: 'All respect to the ballet and opera people out there. I just lost 14 cents in viewership,' according to NBC News.

LaGuardia Principal Quotes Chalamet's Own Ballet History Back To Him

Marwah did not come out swinging. The letter started gently. 'We are so incredibly proud of our own Timothée Chalamet,' it read.

Then came the correction. 'We believe that if a single performance, a single note, a single brushstroke, a single movement across a stage touches even one person, it is worthy. It matters. It is very much alive,' the BBC reported.

Marwah quoted Chalamet's own words back to him. 'Timothée, you yourself once said: 'I grew up backstage at the New York City Ballet. My grandmother danced there. My mother danced there. My sister danced there.' You come from this world. We know your heart, and we know you know better.' The letter closed with a message to current students: 'We see you. Keep going.'

Marwah is a LaGuardia alumnus and trained opera singer who taught vocal music at the school before taking over as principal in August 2023.

Opera Houses And Ballet Dancers Fire Back At Chalamet

The performing arts world was already piling on before Marwah's letter landed. The Metropolitan Opera posted a backstage video on Instagram tagging Chalamet. Los Angeles Opera noted it would have offered free tickets to its nearly sold-out run of Philip Glass's Akhnaten but barely had seats left, Playbill reported. London's Royal Ballet and Opera said thousands fill its venue every night. Seattle Opera offered 14 per cent off Carmen tickets with the promo code 'TIMOTHEE.'

Individual dancers made it personal. New York City Ballet principal Sara Mearns challenged Chalamet on Instagram to 'show your mother the respect she deserves.' Fellow principal Megan Fairchild wrote: 'Timmy, I didn't realise you were a world-class dancer or opera singer who simply chose not to pursue it because acting's more popular,' The Hollywood Reporter noted.

Chalamet's mother, Nicole Flender, danced with the New York City Ballet as a child and performed in Broadway musicals. His grandmother Enid Flender was a Broadway dancer. Jamie Lee Curtis weighed in separately, writing: 'Why are any artists taking shots at any other artists?'

Oscar Night Approaches With Chalamet Still Silent

All of this lands a week before the 98th Academy Awards on 15 March, where Chalamet is nominated for Best Actor for Marty Supreme, Josh Safdie's drama about a 1950s ping-pong player. Saturday Night Live's Colin Jost captured the absurdity on Weekend Update, noting Chalamet had made the comments 'on a press tour for his movie about... ping-pong.'

Chalamet has not responded to the criticism or accepted any invitations from performing arts organisations. Social media users have meanwhile dug up a photograph from January showing him wearing a New York City Ballet baseball cap.