Chalamet memorises his lines ‘phonetically’ when acting in Italian

TIMOTHEE Chalamet was “really winging it” acting in Italian.

The 22-year-old actor is currently being praised for his performance as Elio in the new coming-of-age movie ‘Call Me By Your Name’ alongside Armie Hammer, but despite having a French heritage, Chalamet admitted when acting in Italian he just tried to remember the lines “phonetically”.

Interviewed by Frank Ocean for V Man magazine, Chalamet said: “When I act in French, it’s really shocking to me how it feels more grounding than acting in English. I grew up speaking French with my dad, but it’s not a language I have as much command over, so when I speak or act in French, the words mean so much to me; I’m so focused. So much of ‘Call Me By Your Name’ is silent and plays out physically; there’s kind of a push and pull. Acting in Italian, I’m really winging it: memorising how the lines sound phonetically, just trying to get the intonations and mannerisms right, so the lines ring true to Italian audiences.”

Although he said he was “winging it”, Chalamet revealed there was someone on set who would correct him if he ever got something wrong.

He said: “We had someone on set that could correct me. Same for (playing) the piano and guitar. I did a movie called ‘Beautiful Boy’ this year that involved a lot of drug sequences, and that also felt very important to get right. I had a consultant on set for that.” — BANG Showbiz