Fans of the actor held a Timothée Chalamet look-alike contest in Washington Square Park on Sunday and, according to a Partiful page advertising the event, more than 2,500 people RSVPed to go — although one report from The Cut estimated that the final number of attendees well-exceeded that number. The contest became a viral sensation after attendees shared videos showing that Chalamet himself — not a doppelgänger — attended the event.
The contest was originally set to be held in Washington Square Park, but viral videos show New York City Police asking the crowd to move, and people relocating to a basketball court down the street.
Nicole Sievers, a self-described Chalamet fan who attended the event in person, told Polygon she went because she saw flyers for the event around town and knew, “it was one of the New York City events” that she “couldn’t possibly pass up.” Then, while standing under the arch of Washington Square Park, she was able to see Chalamet himself.
“[I was] trying to be chill about it because I didn’t want to cause a scene.” Sievers told Polygon via text, “Turns out he was ready to cause his own scene, which I deeply respect.”
A Timothée Chalamet fan account on TikTok described the event as “one for the pop culture history books.” The account shared a photo carousel from the day that included photos of Chalamet bearing a mustached smile amidst a packed crowd of fans holding their phones up, a Chalamet look-alike being arrested by the NYPD, and a Chalamet look-alike dressed as Willy Wonka standing beside a glimmering trophy.
A video showed all of the contestants, which the crowd voted on via shouting loudly for their favorites. We got Willy Wonka Timmy, Call Me By Your Name Chalamet, and some good ol’ non-character-specific look-alikes. Perhaps the funniest part? The winner was awarded $50 via a giant check just like the kind you see at sweepstakes or in shows.
As someone who has just seen the videos, I can see why people are so obsessed with the event. Seeing the range of images — from the giant $50 check, to the photo of the police arresting one of the look-alikes — seems more like a dream sequence than a real event. For Sievers, the actual event was way more chill than it seemed in the videos. Chalamet dapped people up, took photos, and bounced.
“Honestly it was pretty tame,” Sievers said. “Like if you’ve seen any of the videos from when they moved from the park to a basketball court down the street, everyone was seated and very calm. I think the police made it worse. Even when Timothée unmasked himself to a few of the participants, people were just kinda shocked and cheering because he ‘did the thing.’”
