Timothée Chalamet Calls Out “Punk” Co-Star Who Questioned His Acting Ability

Timothée Chalamet wants to be remembered as one of the acting greats, as he said in his 2025 SAG Award speech, and he won’t accept any disrespect — even from a fellow actor. During a Feb. 21 interview with his Interstellar co-star Matthew McConaughey for Variety, the Oscar nominee called out a former colleague who tried to question his acting abilities on set.

Speaking at University of Texas in Austin, where McConaughey is an alum and professor, Chalamet revealed that an actor who once tried to give him advice on set ended up dogging his talent instead. Sadly, he didn’t give any specifics.

“No names, but the guy was a punk,” he told McConaughey. “He asked me what conservatory I had gone to, and I said I didn’t go to an acting conservatory. And he said, ‘Well, you haven’t trained as an actor then.’ And we were all part of an ensemble.”

The experience taught Chalamet to be skeptical of wannabe mentors who give unprompted career guidance. “I always said, ‘Beware of the people in life that get more of the advice they give you than you get at the advice,’” he said. “They’re thrilled by the act of giving you advice. All of a sudden you can’t listen to what they’re saying anymore because they’re flexing on you so hard.”

How Chalamet Met McConaughey

However, he wanted to make it clear to the audience — which included some of McConaughey’s students — that his former onscreen dad wasn’t one of those people. “You never did that to me, though, which I’m grateful for,” he said.

In fact, at the beginning of their conversation, Chalamet recalled how McConaughey guided him through the start of his career, when he was just a 17-year-old high school graduate on the set of Interstellar.

“Coming out of high school, it’s hard to take yourself super seriously,” he said. “And I remember you had a yoga mat, and you’d be working out and sleeping on set. It was all very strange to me. But it was super inspiring. I just can’t thank you enough for being warm to me at that time, when you had no reason to be warm to me. It just changed my life, man.”