- Charlize Theron has addressed Timothée Chalamet's controversial statement about the arts in a recent interview, describing his comments as "reckless".
- "I don't want to be working in ballet, or opera, or things where it's like, 'Hey, keep this thing alive, even though like no one cares about this anymore,'" the Dune actor recently stated, with his words prompting a major backlash.
- "In 10 years, AI 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," Theron told the New York Times.
Timothée Chalamet continues to make headlines, with the Marty Supreme star coming under fire earlier this year for his controversial statement that "no one cares" about ballet and opera.
"I don't want to be working in ballet, or opera, or things where it's like, 'Hey, keep this thing alive, even though like no one cares about this anymore'," Chalamet told his Interstellar co-star Matthew McConaughey during a CNN and Variety town hall in February.
"All respect to all the ballet and opera people out there," he added. "I just lost 14 cents in viewership. I just took shots for no reason."
Chalamet's controversial words prompted a major backlash, with A-list figures and organisations still speaking out about the scandal two months later.
This week, it was Academy Award winning actress Charlize Theron who officially weighed in, with the former ballet dancer speaking to the New York Times about the physical demands of dance.
"Dance is probably one of the hardest things I ever did," Theron reflected of her former ballet training. "Dancers are superheroes. What they put their bodies through in complete silence."
"Oh, boy, I hope I run into "Timothée Chalamet" one day," she continued, after his controversial statement was referenced. "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.
"In 10 years, AI 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," she added. "And we shouldn’t [expletive] on other art forms.”
"Dance taught me discipline," Theron went on to recall. "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 mindset of just, you don’t give up, there’s no other option, you keep going."
We will continue to update this story.
