Timothee Chalamet donates his fee from Woody Allen film
The Call Me By Your Name star is the latest actor to express regret at working with the veteran New York director
There was a time when actors were clambering to work with Woody Allen. Despite the increasing mediocrity of his films in the last two decades, stars like Kate Winslet, Cate Blanchett, Joaquin Phoenix and Emma Stone would continue to take pay cuts to be in his movies. But the deeply disturbing allegations made in 1993 by Allen’s adopted daughter Dylan Farrow that the writer-director sexually abused her have not gone away. In the current climate where sexual abusers in the film industry have been called out and exposed following the Harvey Weinstein revelations, the Woody Allen brand has become toxic.
Timothee Chalamet, the 22-year-old New Yorker and breakout star of 2017 following roles in Oscar hopefuls Lady Bird and Call Me by Your Name, is the latest actor to show regret at working with Allen. On Instagram, Chalamet – who has a prominent role in Allen's upcoming feature A Rainy Day in New York – notes that the last few months have been a learning curve for him.
“This year has changed the way I see and feel about so many things,” he writes. “It has been a thrilling and, at times, enlightening education. I have, to this point, chosen projects from the perspective of a young actor trying to walk in the footsteps of more seasoned actors I admire. But I am learning that a good role isn’t the only criteria for accepting a job—that has become much clearer to me in the past few months, having witnessed the birth of a powerful movement intent on ending injustice, inequality and above all, silence.”
Chalamet has been asked several times in the last few weeks about his feelings around having worked with Allen, and he notes on Instagram that he hasn’t been able to comment for “contractual reasons”. He does make it clear, however, that he has regrets about his involvement in Allen's latest. “I don’t want to profit from my work on the film,” he writes, “and to that end, I am going to donate my entire salary to three charities: TIME’S UP, The LGBT Center in New York and RAINN.”
He adds, “I want to be worthy of standing shoulder to shoulder with the brave artists who are fighting for all people to be treated with the respect and dignity they deserve.”
Read the full statement below:
Chalamet's decision to donate his fee echos the actions of British actor Rebecca Hall, who starred in Vicky Cristina Barcelona and has a role alongside Chalamet in A Rainy Day in New York. She too has donated her salary to Time’s Up. “After reading and re-reading Dylan Farrow’s statements of a few days ago and going back and reading the older ones – I see, not only how complicated this matter is, but that my actions have made another woman feel silenced and dismissed,” wrote Hall. “That is not something that sits easily with me in the current or indeed any moment, and I am profoundly sorry. I regret this decision and wouldn’t make the same one today.”
Hall and Chalamet’s actions follow comments from actors like Mira Sorvino and Greta Gerwig, who say they regret having worked with Allen and won’t do so in the future.
The chances of A Rainy Day in New York seeing a release in 2018 now seem unlikely – who would choose to distribute it? Wonder Wheel, Allen’s film made previous to A Rainy Day in New York, is due for release in the UK on 9 March, but it will be interesting to hear what its stars – who include Kate Winslet, Justin Timberlake, and Juno Temple – have to say on the subject in the coming weeks.