Timothée Chalamet has established himself as one of the most respected actors of his generation, and his past roles mean that is perfectly cast as Paul Atreides in Dune. In a variety of roles over the past few years, he has consistently shown that he has the ability to craft characters that can be, at one and the same time, both frustrating and yet very likable.
This is all the more remarkable, considering that he didn’t have a major breakthrough until roughly 2017. Since then, however, Chalamet has time and time again imbued his characters with a powerful humanity - one that allows them to feel incredibly authentic.
Elio - Call Me By Your Name (2017)
Call Me By Your Name was Chalamet’s major role in 2017, and it earned him an Academy Award nomination. In the movie he plays the son of an American archaeologist living in Italy who ends up falling in love with a graduate student named Oliver.
Though there are times when Elio can be a bit privileged and irritating, Chalamet also shows that he is, essentially, a fragile young man coming to terms with his sexuality and experiencing the pain and pleasure associated with falling in love for the first time. By the end, he becomes very likable and sympathetic, and as a result the movie is regarded as an excellent example of an LGBTQ coming of age movie.
Nic - Beautiful Boy (2018)
Chalamet excels at playing young men who are often very troubled but not, essentially, bad people. That is certainly the case with his role as Nic in Beautiful Boy, in which he portrays a young man who struggles repeatedly with addiction.
Chalamet works very hard to make sure that Nic doesn’t become a stereotype or an unsympathetic character, and it’s impossible not to like him and become invested in him and his vexed relationship with his father (who is obviously very concerned about his son and his struggles).
Kyle - Lady Bird (2017)
Chalamet’s role as Kyle in 2017's Lady Bird was another of his highly-lauded roles, and Greta Gerwig's movie is rightly regarded as an excellent coming-of-age movie. This is all the more remarkable considering that he isn’t the center of the drama but is, instead, the love interest of the title character. However, he makes the most of his time on the screen, painting a powerful portrait of a young man struggling with the usual adolescent problems but also with the fact that his father is very ill.
As he always does, Chalamet finds the fundamental sensitivity in the character, allowing him to become much more than just a teenage caricature and far more likable than he might appear at first glance (though he's not without his faults, as well).
Danny Middleton - Hot Summer Nights (2017)
Though Chalamet is more commonly known for playing in prestige dramas, 2017 also saw him playing in a thriller, Hot Summer Nights. As is typical for him, he plays a young man struggling with his identity, a struggle that becomes ever more dangerous once he becomes involved in dealing with drugs.
Danny is the type of person who wants to please everyone, and Chalamet brings out his inner sensitivity and desire for acceptance. He’s a likable character, in part because his struggle to find acceptance is so relatable and universal.
Laurie - Little Women (2019)
Chalamet’s appeal as an actor often stems from his ability to convey vulnerability, and he brings that to bear with his character Laurie from Little Women. Even though the movie is all about the relationships among its charismatic (and very likable) female characters, Chalamet more than holds his own.
His Laurie is a sensitive and kind young man, someone who genuinely loves Jo and is always kind to her siblings. He has an earnestness that makes him quite compelling as a character, and it’s thus all the more heartbreaking when Jo turns down his marriage proposal.
Henry V - The King (2019)
Shakespeare has been adapted many times for the screen, and the story centering on the man who would become Henry V has been especially fruitful in terms of movie and television adaptations. That includes The King, which stars Chalamet in the title role. His Prince Hal is more likable than other interpretations of the character, for while he is still very haughty and even cruel - he even kills a man in cold blood - he does seem to have a great deal of fondness for his wife.
Because this is Timothée Chalamet, there’s also the hint that Henry acts as he does because of the brutal time in which he lived and because of the domineering influence of his father.
Host - Saturday Night Live (2020)
Not every host of Saturday Night Live is a success, and not every host can handle the particular challenges of both hosting live television and sketch comedy. Chalamet, however, showed that he can not only act powerfully and convincingly in dramatic roles but also that he can emerge as one of the best hosts of the 46th season of SNL.
Furthermore, he also showed that he was more than willing to poke a little bit of fun at himself. In the end, he demonstrated just how likable he is as a host and as a comedic actor.