20 April,2026 04:14 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Charlize Theron and Timothee Chalamet
Hollywood star Charlize Theron has called out Timothee Chalamet for his controversial remarks that "no one cares" about opera or ballet, saying it was a "reckless comment on art forms".
The New York Times asked her to comment on Chalamet's remarks when she spoke about her respect for dance.
Charlize Theron began dancing at the age of four and is a trained ballerina who studied at the Joffrey Ballet School in New York, so Chalamet's remarks clearly struck a nerve, and she expressed a desire for a face-to-face confrontation.
She said, "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, AI is going to be able to do Timothee's job, but it will not be able to replace a person on stage dancing live.
"And we shouldn't s''' 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 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 you have to practice every single day, the mindset of you don't give up, there's no other option, you keep going."
In February, Chalamet made controversial comments about ballet and opera while talking to Matthew McConaughey about efforts to preserve cinema. This occurred right in the middle of his Oscar campaign for Marty Supreme in February, leading to bashing on social media and from the art world.
The actor said that he didn't want theatrical movie going to end up like "ballet or 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 said.
