The End of His Heartthrob Era

An assessment of Chalamet's sex appeal as he steps into the role of Willy Wonka, one of the most sexless characters put to screen.

- ALLISON P. DAVIS

IN 2017, E. Alex Jung declared that "Male Stars Are Too Buff!" On the heels of that, a young Timothée Chalamet entered the popular consciousness via Call Me by Your Name. The public appraised him; people took in his long, lean limbs, his "alabaster skin" (Vogue's phrase), the alien angularity of his facial structure, and, rather than say "Wow, this kid should 100 percent be cast as Colin in a remake of The Secret Garden," they said, "This is the heartthrob we've been waiting for." He was the antidote to the Marvel-led glut of synthetic, bulging muscles that looked like CGI but were real and the brute brand of masculinity associated with that type of body.

Blended with Chalamet's otherwise standard-issue heartthrob characteristics (white, cis, floppy '90s hair, pouty lips), all this led to an explosion of heartthrob idolatry: Vogue declared that he was "ushering in a new era of masculinity"; I-D magazine hailed him as "the Perfect Heartthrob for 2018"; another headline singled out his eyes, stating "Timothée Chalamet's Sex Eyes Are the Spice of Life." It took no time at all-he was the Internet Boyfriend Supreme by the end of 2019. The fandom materialized and grew to full "Chalamania." Fans made slow-motion memes of his open-mouthed, torso-winding dancing in Call Me by Your Name and Photoshopped his face onto great works of art on the ChalametInArt Instagram account. The overwhelming allure wasn't just his looks. It was, as one megafan who waited hours to spot him on the red carpet of the 2022 Venice Film Festival put it, his gentle personality. "It feels nice to have a Gen-Z star who seems genuinely nice, whom we can all look up to," she told Variety. Fans were drawn in by his emotional intelligence and seeming sweetness and sensitivity. It felt like they could rely on him to always make the interesting choice (in love interests, famous friends, roles, red-carpet fits).