Among lovers of the telecomedy genre, Timothée Chalamet is just the little brother of Pauline Chalametthe best heroine of ‘The Sex Lives of College Girls’ (Max, third season from Friday, the 22nd), a successful series about four ‘roomies’ at a Vermont university and, you guessed it, their sensual maneuvers in the dark , among many other things. Chalamet shines as Kimberly, a naive young woman from Arizona who in the first season experienced a sexual awakening and who in the second kissed the inappropriate boy, the ex of one of her best friends. We spoke with the actress (also an emerging producer) about Kimberly’s next steps and what it meant to her, Amrit Kaur (Bela) and Alyah Chanelle Scott (Whitney) not having her by her side regularly in new episodes to Renee Rappnow more focused on her musical career.
In previous seasons we saw Kimberly gaining self-confidence and, well, becoming a sex addict along the way. How would you describe your path this season?
Kimberly begins the third season a little downcast, after having broken the ‘girl code’ (by kissing Canaan, her friend Whitney’s ex-boyfriend). And I think it begins a kind of path towards maturity, in which it begins to be somewhat more realistic with its life expectations and with its own abilities to achieve them. I think that’s his arc this season. What it does is settle a little more into reality.
It was difficult for us, the viewers, the fans, to feel sympathy for Canaan as well as for Whitney. Was it difficult for you to embody this conflict of interest?
To be honest, it took me a while to understand the seriousness of what he did. Canaan and Kimberly had a storyline as co-workers at Sips (campus cafeteria). And for some reason, I had always seen that story as something completely removed from Whitney and Canaan. But when we filmed the scene where Whitney comes down the stairs and sees them kissing, I totally realized the importance of the event. That’s when I thought, “Oh, wow, this… isn’t right.”
The series launches jokes at an almost machine-gun pace, but at the same time it is a perceptive portrait of female friendship and its specificities, right? It may strike a chord.
I love that the series is like that. The jokes are non-stop, but the series takes seriously the emotions of that period of your life, in your late teens or early twenties, when you are trying to take control of your life.
Was it difficult to say goodbye to Renée Rapp as a regular actress?
Yes, it was really hard. She was an important part of the series. But it has been exciting to see how well he was doing in his professional life and with his music. We have been able to make up for it with a great ensemble cast of girls. There are quite a few individual stories this season, which has allowed new characters to enter the scene or the character of Lila (Kimberly’s partner in Sips, played by Ilia Isorelýs Paulino) to have more relevance. It ended up being a really fun season to film.
The girls of the Kappa Betta Rho sorority are something hilarious.
They are something incredible, it’s true. I didn’t go to a university where there was any of that, that kind of student brotherhood. It’s something totally exotic for me. It’s so fun to see Whitney in those scenes; In some ways, their reactions represent what many of us would feel if we were in the middle of one of those exclusive societies. There are at least two episodes that are very focused on them and I’m excited for people to see them.
Let’s go back for a moment to his formative years. Can you share some of your earliest memories as a performer? I don’t know if you and your brother Timothée did small acts for the family.
Yes, we put on small shows for our families. I remember singing songs from Britney Spears’ first album in front of some; of forcing my parents and my grandmother to watch me sing (laughs). For a long time, I thought I was going to be a classical ballet dancer. I studied at the School of American Ballet and that was the path I was oriented towards. It was very hard work. Working in acting may be, but being in the ballet world takes its toll on your body and leaves no room for anything else. Later, while studying at LaGuardia High School (on which ‘Fame’ was based), I started to take acting more seriously, but I wasn’t entirely sure, so in college (Bard) I studied not only theater, but also political science, and then I was an intern for an NGO (International Crisis Group, dedicated to the prevention and resolution of armed conflicts)… I wasn’t completely clear. It was when I moved to Paris and studied at Le Studio Asnières that I understood that this was my path.
It was difficult to say goodbye to Renée Rapp, but it has been exciting to see how well she was doing in her professional life and with her music.
Like Whitney, she had to work at the university itself (in her case, in the library) to pay for her studies. Did that bring you closer to the character?
Of course yes. I read the pilot script without knowing which character I would be auditioning for. And to myself I was thinking, “I really hope it’s Kimberly, because I get this character, I get it.” I also went from a public school to a private institution and I was able to see how money can buy education.
Do you and your brother usually discuss your respective career plans, your aspirations?
Yes, we feel very close to each other, so we talk about all our things.
And what are your career aspirations right now, not just in acting, but also in producing?
I have a production company, Gummy Films, based in New York. We made a short film last year (‘Lemon Tree’, by Rachel Walden) that was in the Filmmakers’ Fortnight in Cannes. We’re working on some lengths right now. When you act you have a lot less control than when you produce, so I’m enjoying this part of my career.
Are you afraid that the series will continue to be a success and when you reach a certain age you will still have to play a young university student? Although that is not a problem for the cast of some high school series…
Like ‘OC’, in which they were all very old! But no, I’m not worried at all. I will be grateful if I can continue doing it and enjoying the company of your team for a long time.
