Timothee Chalamet’s Hollywood capital has exploded in recent years, largely due to a slew of nominated leading roles in blockbusters such as A Complete Unknown, Marty Supreme, and the Dune Trilogy, which will premiere its final movie later this year as part of the 2026 movie schedule. However, the 30-year-old actor proved he never forgets his roots, referencing how a moment on set with Matthew McConaughey back in 2014 changed his approach to acting in Dune 3 over a decade later.
Call Me By Your Name is widely considered to be Timothee Chalamet’s breakout role, but Interstellar was the first time mainstream audiences saw the Wonka actor on the big screen. Chalamet played the younger version of McConaughey’s son in Christopher Nolan’s celebrated Sci-Fi epic, and the two actors reunited at a Variety/CNN Town Hall event earlier this year. Chalamet shared with the crowd the small note the Dallas Buyers Club actor gave him on the set of Interstellar that had a huge impact on how he approached roles from that point on:
I came to set and I think maybe you could see I was kind of aimless, but motivated. And you said, ‘How does that tractor work over there?’ and I had no clue. And you said, ‘You should know. You should know. You know, if you were on this farm, you would know.’
That really struck a chord with Chalamet, even though he admitted he thought the Lost Bus actor was half joking. But when McConaughey’s face remained serious, Chalamet says he went back to his hotel that night and printed out research on how to operate a tractor.
The craziest part of this story? It was such a small exchange that McConaughey didn’t even remember it. Yet the Lady Bird actor recounted it as if it happened yesterday. While Chalamet’s part as young Tom in Interstellar might have been small (a mere 10 days of filming), it clearly played a huge role in the trajectory of his career, and is an experience he says he pulled from for the latest Dune film:
I would look at your level of preparation for the USS endurance stuff, and be deeply, deeply inspired about how to come in prepared. I’ll say on Dune 3, you know, it’s a sci-fi control panel, whatever. But as opposed to the first movie, this time on the third one, I came out early and I studied the control panel, that’s all sorts of hieroglyphics and things that aren’t tethered to reality. And I wanted to know what each button did, invent a, you know, dynamic for myself with it.
Bottom line: it’s not actually about being able to operate a tractor or a spaceship. As the two seasoned actors discuss, it’s about becoming so confident and familiar with the fictional world around you, that it feels real to the audience. In Interstellar, Coop and his kids live in a world where resources on Earth are scarce–they work on a farm to survive. It’s their entire livelihood, especially the kids. Being a great actor is about fully committing to the character and narrative, something I think Chalamet has done well in his career thus far, perhaps thanks to McConaughey.
And yes, I do think Chalamet is a great actor. Looking at his filmography as a whole, there’s no denying he has continued to grow and hone his craft, and I, for one, respect his “pursuit of greatness.” I’m not saying the Marty Supreme actor is perfect in any regards, but I am saying that you can count on me being sat in the theater when Dune 3 releases on December 18.