Timothée Chalamet Tells Kendrick Lamar He’s ‘Been a Fan Forever’ as They Bond Over Embracing Failure and Being Vulnerable Through Art

In the crossover we never knew we needed, Timothée Chalamet and Kendrick Lamar linked up ahead of the rapper’s Super Bowl halftime performance to discuss their creative approaches.

In a three-minute, black-and-white clip aired on NFL Network’s “Good Morning Football” on Friday, the Oscar-nominated actor and Grammy-winning rapper drove around in a GNX — because what else — and got real about embracing failure and the importance of being vulnerable in art. On Sunday, Lamar will perform at halftime while the Kansas City Chiefs face off against the Philadelphia Eagles in New Orleans.

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Lamar kicked off the convo by asking Chalamet about his preparation process and how he flexes his acting chops in between projects. “The thing about acting is, if you don’t have an audience, it’s just a form of insanity. And you’re just, what are you doing?” Chalamet said. “So I definitely try to warm up and then, you know, lose that self-consciousness when you finally get back out there. But that takes time.”

He added, “I always try to embrace failure — you were talking about that the other day — the most important part of a bad day is the way you leave it. If you can leave a bad take or a bad day with a positive attitude, then you’ve got nothing to fear.”

For his part, Lamar said he’s “always locked in and always trying new things,” even if they don’t end up going anywhere. “I have to keep the pen moving. It’s my form of sanity,” he said. “And it also has given me the opportunity to learn myself, you know, find out who I am.”

Lamar continued that in writing, you have “to sit and go through the emotions and be vulnerable about it.” He added, “A lot of these records I write, man, a lot of stuff I probably would have never expressed or even known about myself if it wasn’t for an instrumental behind it.”

In an earnest moment, Chalamet told Lamar: “Just being a fan of your music forever and knowing like, look where you’re at now, man. It’s just crazy, Super Bowl halftime show. And you just keep climbing, bro. It’s like, amazing.”

Chalamet, who is currently up for an Oscar for playing Bob Dylan in “A Complete Unknown,” has long been an avid rap and sports fan. He’s previously said that rapper Kid Cudi inspired him to become an artist, and the two eventually met and became friends. Chalamet has also dabbled in the genre a bit himself, with videos of him rapping an original song for math class called “Statistics” and performing as Nicki Minaj in a high school talent show going viral. As for sports, he’s a lifelong New York Knicks fan and surprised viewers last year when he appeared on ESPN’s “College Game Day” as a guest picker, correctly predicting that Ohio University would upset against Miami University in the MAC Championship.

Watch the full conversation below.

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