Timothée Chalamet & Denis Villeneuve Enter a “Deep Dream State”

W – For W’s Directors Issue, the Oscar-nominated actor and filmmaker reunited for a surreal, Lynchian shoot in which Chalamet encounters his Dune predecessor, Kyle MacLachlan.

On a beautiful late afternoon in Los Angeles, Timothée Chalamet burst into the Bar Marmont and bounded straight over to Denis Villeneuve, the Academy Award–nominated director of Dune and Dune: Part Two. Immediately, they embraced and then quickly walked off to a corner of the room, where they huddled and began speaking in French about the evening ahead: Villeneuve would be directing Chalamet in a project for W, photographed by Greig Fraser, the Oscar-winning cinematographer of both Dune films. “Timmy and I have our little French bubble,” explained Villeneuve, who has the calm but decisive manner of a person who has created a cohesive and fascinating cinematic world out of an unwieldy, beloved novel. Hailing from Quebec, Villeneuve is a native French speaker, and Chalamet, who moves fast and has a charismatic mix of puppylike enthusiasm, extreme talent, and an innate wish to be great, has been speaking French since he was a child. “In our bubble, we can be on set with 400 people, and still we can speak privately about the character or life or whatever is happening in that moment,” said Villeneuve. “We have special access through language.”

Villeneuve’s scenario for the shoot involved an element of surprise: A waiter at this bar, played by Chalamet, would serve a customer who turns out to be his spiritual twin. “I love the idea of a young bartender who gives a drink to his double,” said Villeneuve.
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