section_path: Career/2017–2020: Breakthrough
section_name: 2017–2020: Breakthrough
paragraph_text: 2017–2020: Breakthrough
  
  After being attached to the project for three years, Chalamet starred in Luca Guadagnino 's Call Me by Your Name, based on the novel of the same name by André Aciman. The story revolves around Elio Perlman, a young man living in Italy during the 1980s, who falls in love with Oliver (Armie Hammer), a university student who has come to stay with his family. In preparation, Chalamet learned to speak Italian, as well as to play the piano and guitar. Call Me by Your Name premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival to critical acclaim; critics particularly highlighted Chalamet's performance. Olly Richards of Empire wrote: "In a film in which every performance is terrific, Chalamet makes the rest look like they're acting. He alone would make the film worth watching". Jon Frosch of The Hollywood Reporter stated that no performance during the year "felt as emotionally, physically and intellectually alive" and included Chalamet in the magazine's list of the best performances of the year. Time and The New York Times also featured him in such lists. He won the Gotham Independent Film Award for Breakthrough Actor and the Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead, and received nominations for the Critics' Choice Movie Award, Golden Globe Award, SAG Award, BAFTA Award, and Academy Award, all for Best Actor. He is the third-youngest person to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor as well as the youngest since 19-year-old Mickey Rooney in Babes in Arms in 1939.
  
  In his second film of 2017, Chalamet played Daniel, a gawky teenager who gets swept up in the drug-dealing business throughout a summer, in Elijah Bynum's directorial debut, Hot Summer Nights. It received a limited theatrical release the following year and generated mixed reviews from critics, though Chalamet received praise from K. Austin Collins of Vanity Fair, who called the "sensitivity" in his performance "something special". Later that year, he played Kyle Scheible, a rich hipster in a band and a love interest of Saoirse Ronan 's character in Lady Bird, the solo directorial debut of Greta Gerwig. Critics praised the ensemble cast, with Ty Burr of The Boston Globe taking particular note of Chalamet's "hilarious" performance. In his final film of 2017, Scott Cooper 's western Hostiles, Chalamet played a young soldier named Philippe DeJardin, alongside Christian Bale.
  
  In 2018, Chalamet joined the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Later that year, Chalamet portrayed Nic Sheff, a teenager addicted to methamphetamine who shares a strained relationship with his father, the journalist David Sheff (portrayed by Steve Carell), in the drama Beautiful Boy. Directed by Felix Van Groeningen, the film is based on a pair of memoirs—the elder Sheff's memoir of the same name and Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines by Nic Sheff. Owen Glieberman of Variety drew comparisons with Chalamet's performance in Call Me by Your Name, stating that "Nic, in his muffled millennial James Dean way, skittery and self-involved" is a transformation from the "marvelous directness" he displayed in the role of Elio Perlman. He received nominations for Best Supporting Actor at the Golden Globe, SAG, and BAFTA award ceremonies.
  
  The following year, Chalamet starred in Woody Allen 's romantic comedy A Rainy Day in New York. The Me Too movement prompted a resurgence of the 1992 sexual abuse allegation against Allen. Chalamet said he was unable to answer questions about working with Allen due to his contractual obligations; the Huffington Post obtained a copy of Chalamet's contract which disputed this. Chalamet donated his salary to the charities Time's Up, LGBT Center of New York, and RAINN, and did not promote the film. Allen claimed in his 2020 memoir Apropos of Nothing that Chalamet told Allen's sister Letty Aronson that he only denounced him in an attempt to improve his chances of winning an Academy Award for Call Me by Your Name.
  
  Chalamet next portrayed Henry V of England, a prince who, as a young man, becomes King of England, in David Michôd 's Netflix period drama The King, based on several plays from Shakespeare 's Henriad. Richard Lawson of Vanity Fair wrote, "Chalamet does robust work, straightening his lanky posture as he goes, rising up into the role like a man ascendant". In his third film release of 2019, Chalamet portrayed Theodore "Laurie" Laurence, a lovestruck teenager, in Little Women, an adaptation of Louisa May Alcott 's novel of the same name. Marking his second collaboration with Gerwig and Ronan, the film was acclaimed by critics, two of whom — Peter Travers of Rolling Stone and Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post — also praised Chalamet's performance; Travers noted that the actor portrays the role with "innate charm and poignant vulnerability", while Hornaday highlighted his "languidly graceful" performance and its "playful physicality". Chalamet hosted an episode of the sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live in 2020.
  
  After being attached to the project for three years, Chalamet starred in Luca Guadagnino 's Call Me by Your Name, based on the novel of the same name by André Aciman. The story revolves around Elio Perlman, a young man living in Italy during the 1980s, who falls in love with Oliver (Armie Hammer), a university student who has come to stay with his family. In preparation, Chalamet learned to speak Italian, as well as to play the piano and guitar. Call Me by Your Name premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival to critical acclaim; critics particularly highlighted Chalamet's performance. Olly Richards of Empire wrote: "In a film in which every performance is terrific, Chalamet makes the rest look like they're acting. He alone would make the film worth watching". Jon Frosch of The Hollywood Reporter stated that no performance during the year "felt as emotionally, physically and intellectually alive" and included Chalamet in the magazine's list of the best performances of the year. Time and The New York Times also featured him in such lists. He won the Gotham Independent Film Award for Breakthrough Actor and the Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead, and received nominations for the Critics' Choice Movie Award, Golden Globe Award, SAG Award, BAFTA Award, and Academy Award, all for Best Actor. He is the third-youngest person to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor as well as the youngest since 19-year-old Mickey Rooney in Babes in Arms in 1939.
  
  In his second film of 2017, Chalamet played Daniel, a gawky teenager who gets swept up in the drug-dealing business throughout a summer, in Elijah Bynum's directorial debut, Hot Summer Nights. It received a limited theatrical release the following year and generated mixed reviews from critics, though Chalamet received praise from K. Austin Collins of Vanity Fair, who called the "sensitivity" in his performance "something special". Later that year, he played Kyle Scheible, a rich hipster in a band and a love interest of Saoirse Ronan 's character in Lady Bird, the solo directorial debut of Greta Gerwig. Critics praised the ensemble cast, with Ty Burr of The Boston Globe taking particular note of Chalamet's "hilarious" performance. In his final film of 2017, Scott Cooper 's western Hostiles, Chalamet played a young soldier named Philippe DeJardin, alongside Christian Bale.
  
  In 2018, Chalamet joined the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Later that year, Chalamet portrayed Nic Sheff, a teenager addicted to methamphetamine who shares a strained relationship with his father, the journalist David Sheff (portrayed by Steve Carell), in the drama Beautiful Boy. Directed by Felix Van Groeningen, the film is based on a pair of memoirs—the elder Sheff's memoir of the same name and Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines by Nic Sheff. Owen Glieberman of Variety drew comparisons with Chalamet's performance in Call Me by Your Name, stating that "Nic, in his muffled millennial James Dean way, skittery and self-involved" is a transformation from the "marvelous directness" he displayed in the role of Elio Perlman. He received nominations for Best Supporting Actor at the Golden Globe, SAG, and BAFTA award ceremonies.
  
  The following year, Chalamet starred in Woody Allen 's romantic comedy A Rainy Day in New York. The Me Too movement prompted a resurgence of the 1992 sexual abuse allegation against Allen. Chalamet said he was unable to answer questions about working with Allen due to his contractual obligations; the Huffington Post obtained a copy of Chalamet's contract which disputed this. Chalamet donated his salary to the charities Time's Up, LGBT Center of New York, and RAINN, and did not promote the film. Allen claimed in his 2020 memoir Apropos of Nothing that Chalamet told Allen's sister Letty Aronson that he only denounced him in an attempt to improve his chances of winning an Academy Award for Call Me by Your Name.
  
  Chalamet next portrayed Henry V of England, a prince who, as a young man, becomes King of England, in David Michôd 's Netflix period drama The King, based on several plays from Shakespeare 's Henriad. Richard Lawson of Vanity Fair wrote, "Chalamet does robust work, straightening his lanky posture as he goes, rising up into the role like a man ascendant". In his third film release of 2019, Chalamet portrayed Theodore "Laurie" Laurence, a lovestruck teenager, in Little Women, an adaptation of Louisa May Alcott 's novel of the same name. Marking his second collaboration with Gerwig and Ronan, the film was acclaimed by critics, two of whom — Peter Travers of Rolling Stone and Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post — also praised Chalamet's performance; Travers noted that the actor portrays the role with "innate charm and poignant vulnerability", while Hornaday highlighted his "languidly graceful" performance and its "playful physicality". Chalamet hosted an episode of the sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live in 2020.