The Gritty Crime Thriller Timothée Chalamet Was Rejected From

Amazon Studios

We supposedly live in an age where there are no more movie stars, which would make Timothée Chalamet somewhat of an anomaly. The 28-year-old fronted a string of box office hits in 2023 and 2024, proving that he has that unique movie star appeal that makes general audiences pay for tickets simply based on the fact that Chalamet is the star.

After his Willy Wonka origin story, "Wonka," made more than $600 million worldwide in December 2023, the Chalamet-fronted sci-fi epic "Dune: Part Two" crossed box office milestone after box office milestone in 2024, becoming one of the biggest movies of the year. He's also playing living legend Bob Dylan in James Mangold's "A Complete Unknown," and if his last two movies are anything to go by, that particular biographical drama should benefit from Chalamet's presence greatly.

But it's taken a while for the young actor to reach this stage of movie stardom. Before he fronted Denis Villeneuve's "Dune" and "Dune: Part Two," he was desperately trying to work with the French Canadian filmmaker on pretty much anything. At one point, he even auditioned for one of Villeneuve's best films, narrowly missing out on a part that would have cemented the pair's working relationship long before they brought the saga of Paul Atreides to the big screen.

Warner Bros.

These days we know Denis Villeneuve as the director of major films such as the bleak blockbuster hit "Dune: Part Two," as well as its predecessor, "Dune," the brainy sci-fi film with a beating heart "Arrival," and the shockingly underseen "Blade Runner 2049." But back when he was trying to make a name for himself outside of his native Canada, Villeneuve burst on the scene with what remains one of his finest movies: 2013's "Prisoners."

The film starred Hugh Jackman as Keller Dover, a father whose daughter is abducted. Dover becomes increasingly desperate in his search for her, compromising his long-held principles as he slowly unravels. Overseeing the tragic events from the police side of things is Jake Gyllenhaal's Detective Loki, who's battling his own demons. As the days go by, Dover becomes increasingly convinced that Paul Dano's Alex Jones — an intellectually disabled man — is the one behind his daughter's abduction, and in one of the most memorable scenes, takes Alex to an empty home where he beats him mercilessly in an attempt to get the answers he needs.

Dano is perfect in the role of Alex, delivering an understated but affecting performance that meets the demands of the movie's big twist. But it seems it very nearly could have been Timothée Chalamet enduring Jackman's rage in the film, as the "Dune" star actually tried out for "Prisoners" when he was just 15. As GQ reported in 2020, when Chalamet met with Villeneuve about "Dune," the director told the star how good it was to finally meet, only for Chalamet to remind him that he'd previously auditioned for "Prisoners." "Of course!," Villeneuve said when he was told, "He did a great audition, but he didn't physically fit the part. He was probably swearing at me because I didn't take him."

Warner Bros.

After Denis Villeneuve passed on Timothée Chalamet, Paul Dano was thankfully drawn to "Prisoners, " which worked out for the best overall. Dano was one of the best things in the movie, and Chalamet went on to become a major star in a string of increasingly high-profile projects. But it seems all the while he was becoming a bonafide movie star, Chalamet harbored a desire to one day work with Villeneuve ever since his failed "Prisoners" audition. As the actor once told ETalk, "I had auditioned for 'Prisoners' when I was 15 years old, a movie with Jake Gyllenhaal and Hugh Jackman, so I've been trying to work with [Villeneuve] for a long time," adding, "He is one of the best, if not the best working director right now."

So strong was his desire to finally work with Villeneuve that, as Chalamet revealed to Deadline in 2021, he set up a Google alert for the "Dune" project "as soon as Denis got involved." The actor also explained more about how he was trying to get the director's attention ever since his audition for "Prisoners" didn't work out, saying:

"I remember I was trying to put myself in front of him as much as possible and set up a meeting with him. We had a night at the BAFTAs where one of my good friends, Stéphane Bak — who's also an actor — saw Denis across the room and was like, 'Hey buddy, he's right over there.' So, we went over to talk to him. I kept trying to put myself in front of him, but I didn't really get a sense of the possibility [of working with him]."

Thankfully, despite initially forgetting Chalamet had auditioned for "Prisoners," Villeneuve had him in mind for "Dune," and asked the actor to fly out to Cannes (where he was president of the jury) to discuss the movie, thereby sealing his appearance in the film and finally bringing the two together on a project.