The Old and the New: A Comparison Between Marlon Brando and Timothée Chalamet

Hollywood is a place where you can truly see the evolution of careers. Some actors make their debuts very early in life, and go on to long, successful careers that often take some unexpected twists and turns. We decided to compare some of the oldest and newest names in film to show how Hollywood career trajectories have transformed in some ways and stayed very much the same in others.

Marlon Brando is thought by many to be one of the best actors the world has known. He has starred in the critically acclaimed movies The Godfather (1972), Streetcar Named Desire (1951), On the Waterfront (1954), Apocalypse Now (1979), and Last Tango in Paris (1972), to name a few. He got his start on the stage, but after his Broadway performance in Streetcar won rave reviews, he switched to film, where his famous line, “Stella!” in the movie version of Streetcar turned him into an icon. This movie also enabled him to showcase his “Method Acting” approach to creating a character. By encouraging actors to imagine personally relevant experiences when portraying a character’s mindset or mood at a particular moment in the story, Method Acting has been credited with generating emotionally expressive performances.

Timothée Chalamet is an up-and-coming actor, already well known in Hollywood at 22 years old. This year, he starred in two Oscar-nominated and -winning films: Ladybird and Call Me By Your Name. Chalamet was nominated for his leading role as Elio in Call Me By Your Name. Before his success in the popular film, he played many smaller roles, such as an appearance in the television series Homeland and the movie Interstellar. Because of Chalamet’s huge breakthrough roles this year, he is in the public eye. People are obsessed with Chalamet because of his shyness and adorableness.

 So, is Timothée Chalamet the new Marlon Brando? Yes. They both had huge breakthrough roles. For Brando, he continued to star in many other critically acclaimed movies, and he became one of the best actors in the world. If Chalamet continues to choose his roles wisely, he could very well get to the level of Brando. Chalamet is in a new movie with Steve Carell called Beautiful Boy that is coming out in October 2018, and is in A Rainy Day in New York directed by Woody Allen.

- Madei Davis '18, Ava Davis '18, Grace O'Malley '18