Timothée Chalamet&x27;s Mom Clarifies He Didn&x27;t Take Ballet Classes Growing Up: He &x27;Did His Own Dancing&x27; (Exclusive) Rebecca Aizin, Katie HillThu, May 21, 2026 at 4:56 PM UTC 0 Timothee Chalamet and his mother Nicole Flender attend the 32nd Annual Actor Awards at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on March 1, 2026Credit: PATRICK T.
Timothée Chalamet's Mom Clarifies He Didn't Take Ballet Classes Growing Up: He 'Did His Own Dancing' (Exclusive)
Rebecca Aizin, Katie HillThu, May 21, 2026 at 4:56 PM UTC
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Timothee Chalamet and his mother Nicole Flender attend the 32nd Annual Actor Awards at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on March 1, 2026
Credit: PATRICK T. FALLON / AFP via Getty -
Timothée Chalamet faced backlash for saying "no one cares" about ballet and opera during a February town hall
His mom, Nicole Flender, clarified he never took ballet classes despite growing up in a family of ballerinas
Chalamet's comments went viral, with critics pointing out his grandmother, mother, and sister were all professional dancers
Timothée Chalamet didn't quite follow in his older sister and mother's footsteps when it came to ballet.
The 30-year-old actor famously made a controversial comment saying "no one cares about" ballet and opera during a filmed Feb. 24 Variety and CNN town hall with Matthew McConaughey. He received swift backlash from the industry, and several weeks later, the Library for the Performing Arts shared a clip on Instagram of a 6-year-old Chalamet in a ballet production of Romeo & Juliet.
The video led the public to believe Chalamet took ballet classes himself as a child, but his mom, Nicole Flender, a former ballerina herself, cleared up those rumors while speaking with PEOPLE at the American Ballet Theatre's Spring Gala on Wednesday, May 20.
Pauline Chalamet and Timothée Chalamet attend the 98th Annual Oscars at Dolby Theatre on March 15, 2026 in Hollywood
Credit: John Shearer/98th Oscars/Getty
"Timmy didn't take ballet classes. My daughter did," she said, adding that she and her daughter, Pauline Chalamet, both trained at the prestigious School of American Ballet.
"Timmy did his own dancing," Flender, 68, added. "You know, he was a rap artist at a high school so he did his own thing."
Chalamet made his comment on ballet and opera as he discussed Hollywood's efforts to "keep movie theaters alive."
"I don't want to be working in ballet, or opera, or things where it's like, 'Hey, keep this thing alive, even though like no one cares about this anymore.' All respect to all the ballet and opera people out there," he said during the panel.
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The actor appeared to recognize that his comments could be seen as disparaging and immediately added, "I just lost 14 cents in viewership, I just took shots for no reason."
The three-time Oscar nominee's comments quickly went viral, with multiple ballet dancers criticizing him and people online pointing out he comes from a family of dancers. (His grandmother, Enid Flender, was a professional dancer with the New York City Ballet.)
Timothee Chalamet and his mother Nicole Flender attend the NY premiere of "Marty Supreme" in New York on December 16, 2025
Credit: ANGELA WEISS / AFP via Getty
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Chalamet previously spoke about growing up "backstage at the New York City Ballet" while promoting his movie Marty Supreme.
"My grandmother danced in the New York City Ballet, my mother danced in the New York City Ballet, my sister danced in the New York City Ballet," he told a reporter. "I grew up dreaming big backstage at the Koch Theater in New York."
The actor added that his background helped him "hugely," calling himself a "Venn diagram of the best cultural influences of the 21st-century and the 20th-century."
on People
Source: "AOL Entertainment"
Source: Entertainment
Published: May 21, 2026 at 09:01PM on Source: MANUEL MAG
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