Timothée Chalamet is taking marketing to another level in Hollywood.
From travelling to merch events to appearing on The Tonight Show with a cohort of people donning giant Ping-Pong balls as heads, the Call Me By Your Name actor is ready to make his upcoming movie Marty Supreme a hit, which opens nationwide Christmas Day. In fact, according to Page Six, the 29-year-old actor surprised the crowd at an NYC table-tennis invitational.
According to the news outlet, Chalamet promised on Friday to make “128 appearances” at pre-release screenings of the film. The actor also entertained his fans with a cringe-comedy Zoom call on social media in which he manifested his ideas of painting the Statue of Liberty and the Eiffel Tower the movie’s characteristic “corroded orange, falling apart orange” color.
Given that the corroded orange is the signature hue of the movie, the actor is spotted styling it not only at the film’s premieres, but also coordinating outfits with his mom, Nicole Flender, in New York City and girlfriend Kylie Jenner in Los Angeles.
Speaking about the make-up mogul and Chalamet’s relationship, the Dune star recently released a music video with the masked Liverpool rapper EsDeeKid, rapping about Marty Supreme and Jenner.
“It’s Timothée Chalamet chillin’/ Tryin’ to stack $100 million / Girl got a billion.”
According to Page Six, sources revealed that the actor was influenced by his girlfriend’s family, who’ve mastered the art of building a personal brand.
One of the sources who has worked with Chalamet said, “Timmy’s been ‘Kardashian-ized.'”
Apparently, it’s working for him, considering that Marty Supreme, in which he plays the role of a frantic table-tennis player Marty Mauser, has achieved exponential pre-sales in studio A24’s history, according to Deadline. In fact, reports reveal that he’s also been nominated for the Golden Globe.
The industry source deftly compared Chalamet’s guerrilla movie-marketing techniques to the Kardashian family’s legacy of creating strong and foundational personal brands. They noted, “Both Timmy and Kylie are just into a different genre, the way they think about life and how they want to live.”
Over the past few months, there had been a lot of speculation concerning the relationship status of Jenner and Chalamet, with some believing that they have broken up since they were not spotted together. However, as and when the rumors peaked, the couple refuted all these rumors with their public or social media appearances.
In fact, the couple was like moths to a flame at the LA premiere for Marty Supreme earlier this month. Page Six shares reports that he is expected to join the Kardashians’ bash the night before his film opens nationwide.
“They’re definitely still together, but it’s not like she needs to be at every promotional event (to prove it)”, an industry source revealed to Page Six.
Despite their blooming bond, the couple sees eye to eye in keeping their relationship under wraps, quite unlike the Kardashian sisters.
Previously, Chalamet was nominated for an Academy Award for Call Me By Your Name in 2018 and again this year for A Complete Unknown, which makes him the youngest two-time Best Actor nominee since James Dean.
While accepting a SAG Award for best actor for the Dylan biopic, the actor shared that he is “really in pursuit of greatness.”
Speaking to Page Six, a Hollywood source said, “All big actors get to be full of themselves, it’s part of the course. He really cares about the craft for sure; he’s an actor with a capital A. But he’ll say ‘I don’t want to promote this movie using the old playbook and doing the same types of interviews … He’ll say ‘Let’s make it fun, let’s do it a different way.'”
Not just the professional ethos, it seems that Chalamet also knows how to charm his online audience.
“His fans love him, and he definitely knows how to speak to his fans and interact, and it’s really important to him.”