Timmy in Miami

Timothée Chalamet was not at Coachella weekend two with Kylie Jenner. Instead he was seen with friends in Miami after showing up in Las Vegas for CinemaCon to promote Dune 3. Hanging out in Miami is not newsworthy but the reason he’s making headlines today is because… Charlize Theron would like a word.

In a wide-ranging interview with The New York Times published this weekend, Charlize reflects on her experience as a dancer earlier in her career and says that, “Dance is probably one of the hardest things I ever did. Dancers are superheroes. What they put their bodies through in complete silence.” At which point Timmy’s name comes up – and her response:

“Oh, boy, I hope I run into him one day. That was a very reckless comment on an art form, two art forms, that we need to lift up constantly because, yes, they do have a hard time. But in 10 years, A.I. is going to be able to do Timothée’s job, but it will not be able to replace a person on a stage dancing live. And we shouldn’t [expletive] on other art forms. Dance taught me discipline. It taught structure. It taught hard work. It taught me to be tough. It’s borderline abusive. There were several times that I had blood infections from blisters that just never healed. And you don’t get a day off. I’m literally talking about bleeding through your shoes. And that’s something that you have to practice every single day, the mind-set of just, you don’t give up, there’s no other option, you keep going.”

Charlize is known to be one of the more straightforward and direct actors in the business. Remember, she wasn’t taking sh-t from Tom Hardy on the set of Mad Max: Fury Road – so if she has something to say, she’ll say it to your face. If only that conversation, whenever and if ever it happens, could be filmed.

Back to Timmy and the next major event on the celebrity social calendar: the Met Gala. He’s co-chaired before and I feel like people might assume he’s a regular, but that was actually the only time he’s attended. Kylie is always there, Timmy is not – so if he skips it two weeks from tonight, the first Monday in May, it won’t be a surprise… even though there will inevitably be headlines and TikToks from people trying to rumour that it’s some kind of an issue.

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What else happened today…

Let me link again to that New York Times interview with Charlize – she’s promoting a movie called Apex – because she’s talking at length about her upbringing and recalling how her mother protected her from her father, and eventually killed him in self-defence. This was never a secret, she’s been forthcoming about the violence in her past, but it’s probably the most detailed she’s given about what happened. And she’s talking about it not because she wants to bring more attention to gender-based violence, and how prevalent it is in all cultures and countries. It’s a powerful conversation and there’s also more here about how she’s been choosing her roles, and why she’s been in so many action movies lately – even though she keeps getting hurt. As she put it, “I made the connection pretty quickly to my dance career, and I had missed telling stories through my body”. (The New York Times) 

Our friend Kathleen Newman-Bremang writes movingly about miscarriage because “for Black women, this experience is underrepresented and when it is, its complexity is rarely centered.” (Refinery 29)

AFI honoured Eddie Murphy – and all his friends showed up. (Go Fug Yourself)

Conan O’Brien’s friends are getting him into edibles. (Pajiba)

A LEGO thief has been apprehended. The KitKat thief or thieves remain at large. (Celebitchy)