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Some of my friends are 20 years younger than me, so I'm used to feeling a little out of the loop when they mention memes and references that just aren't in my middle-aged orbit, but I still consider myself pretty hip, pretty with-it, pretty receptive. But nothing has made me feel twice my age and kind of on drugs quite like Timothée Chalamet's bizarre buzz cut reveal.
The purpose of the video Chalamet posted on October 7 is not specifically to spotlight his now glaring lack of hair; though, being a beauty writer, that's what drew me in, of course. But to even get there, I had to watch the Oscar-nominated actor sit in a clear container in a field while orange ping-pong balls were violently whipped around him. He wears a tracksuit that reads Marty Supreme—the name of the film this video apparently promotes—and an orange helmet that looks like a pumpkin and bowling ball had a scary baby. (All of the other people in the video, who start out the clip playing ping-pong in that same field, are also wearing these helmets. I have no idea why, and I suspect that confusion is the point.)
Chalamet crawls out of the weird-for-the-sake-of-being-weird chamber and chucks the helmet to the ground, displaying his now shaven head. It's definitely in stark contrast to his usual look, which almost always includes lush hair. We get a good look at it as an electropunk soundtrack plays in the background (the lyrics are… interesting) and he puts on what I can only describe as 1990s IT-guy glasses.
He then runs off to what appears to be an interview-style set, sits down, and eventually tells us, “Marty Supreme is an American film that comes out on Christmas 2025," his face out of focus for an intentionally awkwardly long time.
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So… yeah. I'm not gonna pretend I get it or that I think it's cool and edgy. Though I will admit, it sparked my curiosity about two things: what Marty Supreme is even about, and what Kylie Jenner thinks of her boyfriend's new buzz cut. With those long nails she's been wearing lately, they'll have nothing to comb through.
But it's worth it for the art, I'm sure.