Renowned dancer Misty Copeland has addressed Timothée Chalamet’s controversial comments that “no one cares” about ballet or opera.
Copeland — who made history as the first Black female principal dancer in the American Ballet Theater — responded to the Marty Supreme actor’s comments from last month, while pointing out with a photo of herself on Instagram wearing a Marty Supreme jacket that she helped promote his Oscar-nominated film.
“First, I have to say that it’s very interesting that he invited me to be a part of promoting Marty Supreme with respect to my art form,” Copeland said at a panel for Aveeno skincare, according to Variety. “I think that it’s important that we acknowledge that, yes, this is an art form that’s not ‘popular’ and a part of pop culture as movies are, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have enduring relevance in culture.”
The retired dancer also said there is “a reason that the opera and ballet have been around for over 400 years.”
“He wouldn’t be an actor and have the opportunities he has as a movie star if it weren’t for opera and ballet and their relevance in that medium,” she continued.
The Independent has contacted representatives for Chalamet for comment.
The Dune actor first made waves with both opera singers and ballet dancers last month during a live conversation with Matthew McConaughey for Variety, in which the two actors discussed competing with audiences’ shrinking attention spans.
“In this day of shorter attention spans, vertical 12-second spots, are we losing attention?” McConaughey asked him, pointing out that studios appear to be cutting the first acts of their films to get to “the conflict” more quickly.
Chalamet responded by pointing out that there is an appetite among young cinema goers for slower-paced films, citing Netflix’s Frankenstein as an example.
“It does take you having to wave a flag of, 'Hey, this is a serious movie,' or something, and some people do want to be entertained and quickly,” Chalamet argued.
“I'm really right in the middle, Matthew. I admire people, and I've done it myself, who go on a talk show and say, 'Hey, we've got to keep movie theaters alive, we've gotta keep this genre alive,' and another part of me feels like if people want to see it, like Barbie, like Oppenheimer, they're going to go see it and go out of their way to be loud and proud about it.
He then said: “I don’t want to be working in ballet or opera where it’s like, ‘Hey! Keep this thing alive, even though no one cares about this anymore.’
“All respect to the ballet and opera people out there,” he added, laughing. “I just lost 14 cents in viewership. I’m taking shots for no reason.”
The clip from the event quickly went viral, with Whoopi Goldberg, Doja Cat and theater stars weighing in on the ongoing debate.
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