Controversy has arisen after a viral clip of Timothée Chalamet saying, “No one cares” about ballet and opera began circulating online. The clip originates from a live conversation hosted by Variety and CNN between Chalamet and his Interstellar co-star, Matthew McConaughey, at the University of Texas. The two actors were discussing the shortening of audiences’ attention spans when Chalamet said, “I admire people, and I’ve done it myself, who go on a talk show and say, ‘Hey, we’ve got to keep movie theatres alive, we’ve gotta keep this genre alive.” He later continued, “And I don’t want to be working in ballet or opera. Or you know things where it’s like ‘Hey, keep this thing alive’ even though no one cares about this anymore.” When asked if Chalamet’s statements would affect her opinion on him, junior Leticia Ralston said, “Definitely not, because I think it’s just an opinion and people are allowed to have their opinions.” The actor has received backlash from members of the opera and ballet communities. Isabel Leonard, an opera singer, commented under a clip of the incident, “To take cheap shots at fellow artists says more in this interview than anything else he could say. Shows a lot about his character.” Ballet dancer Misty Copeland chimed in, saying, “…[Ballet] is an art form that’s not ‘popular’ and a part of pop culture as movies are, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have enduring relevance in culture.” Ayalea Elhassani, a 9th grader, spoke on how Chalamet’s statements might affect his career, saying, “A lot of people are actually into that stuff, and they are just going to think wrongly of him because he said that.” Only time will tell how the controversy affects Chalamet.