Timothée Chalamet was anything but a complete unknown when he entered a Timothée Chalamet look-alike contest in New York City.
There was “pandemonium” among the competitors and spectators on Sunday when, 30 minutes after the match started, the New York native appeared in the crowd, which numbered in the thousands, according to NBC News.
There were gasps and screams as Chalamet was filming Marty Supreme in New York, joined his dark brown, wavy doppelgängers in Washington Square Park. According to the Associated Press, Chalamet was accompanied by bodyguards.
The actor, sporting a mustache and shorter hair than many of the participants under his black hat, flashed peace signs as he stood next to the hopefuls, who were his Dune And Wonka looks in hopes of winning the $50 prize money – and bragging rights.
The award ultimately went to Staten Island resident Miles Mitchell, 21. He wore a Wonka costume, including a briefcase, and helped win over the judges by throwing candy to the audience.
Mitchell was presented with a giant check that said “Dear Tim.”
USA Today reported that because organizers including YouTuber Anthony Po and Instagram influencer Tamir Omari were denied a permit, the NYPD broke up what it deemed an “unplanned demonstration” because they had not obtained a permit. A police spokesperson told the outlet that four people were arrested and released with citations.
The Cut posted a video of a Chalamet look-alike being handcuffed.
The organizers — who were fined $500, according to the Associated Press — promoted the event by posting flyers around New York in the days leading up to the game. According to Variety, there were 2,500 responses to an online invitation on Sunday morning.
“This is the way of culture,” Po said, holding up his fine. “And this is the price of culture.”
“It started as a stupid joke and now it’s turned into pandemonium,” said Paige Nguyen, a producer who helped Po organize the event, according to the AP.
“We got kicked out of Washington Square Park,” Omari said in a video. “We could never have anticipated that so many people would show up. … The expectations were that we could have an orderly lookalike contest.”
Chalamet is one of Hollywood’s most popular and affordable stars. He will next appear on the big screen as Bob Dylan A complete stranger, which will be released on December 25th. The heartthrob has been dating reality star and makeup mogul Kylie Jenner since last year.
