During a Variety and CNN Town Hall interview with Matthew McConaughey, Timothée Chalamet spoke about his career as an actor and emphasized the importance of preserving popular cinema, noting that traditional art forms such as ballet and opera are fading.
“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 in a lighthearted tone. “All respect to all the ballet and opera people out there. I just lost 14 cents in viewership… Damn, I just took shots for no reason.”
While many misinterpreted his comment as something negative due to his delivery, Chalamet’s intended message was to express his wish for cinema to not become a dying art such as ballet and opera.
This alone created significant backlash on Chalamet. While his comment is not entirely incorrect, ballet and opera are still forms of art that people are passionate about and continue to practice. People found his comment offensive and even ironic coming from someone whose mom was a ballet dancer.
At the 2026 Oscars, ballet dancer Misty Copeland made a surprising appearance on stage performing along the musical festival for “Sinners.” Perhaps this is a wake-up call to keep ballet, opera and other traditional dying arts alive.
Ballet and opera have been around for centuries and although they may not be as popular or recognizable anymore, they should still be valued as they have inspired modern theatre, film, culture and even fashion.
They are losing transactions, however it does not just come down to peoples loss of interest. It is also due to their limited funding and accessibility compared to films. Buying tickets for operas and ballets are significantly more expensive than going to the movies or even renting a movie to watch at home.
Cinema just happens to be consumed a lot faster. A vast majority of people don’t know about each and every single opera and ballet recital, but to be able to witness one is a truly captivating experience. There is so much more preparation behind the scenes, the performers radiate that time and effort and it transforms into passion.
