A sea of 20-something boys, with a mix of defined jawlines, hazel eyes and mops of curly hair congregated at New York City’s Washington Square Park on Sunday afternoon to take part in a Timothée Chalamet lookalike contest. But in a surprise twist, around 30 minutes after the contest kicked off, the real-life Chalamet made a surprise appearance in the middle of the crowd.
Chalamet snuck his way through the packed mob, hiding behind a black mask and baseball hat, before sneaking up on two doppelgangers posing for photos. Once he got to the middle, he took off his mask for the big reveal as shrieks quickly erupted across the park.
Before Chalamet made his appearance, the NYPD also showed up to try and quell the quickly-growing crowd under the park’s iconic arch. A few minutes after the contest began at 1 p.m., the police herded the group to the North-side of the park, even putting one doppelganger in cuffs although the reason for his arrest is unknown.
The lookalike contest was promoted the past few weeks through flyers posted across the city, in addition to a public Partiful invitation promising a $50 cash prize for the winner. By Sunday morning, the event had more than 2,500 RSVPs.
Chalamet pulled up behind one of the more popular lookalikes, 22 year-old Spencer DeLorenzo who spent much the afternoon posting for photos. At one point, he was even hoisted on a chair as the crowd cheered him on.
DeLorenzo says he’s been told he looks like Chalamet since the actor’s star-turning role in “Call Me By Your Name” in 2017.
“It kinda got old after a while but I’ll take it,” he says, adding that he’s excited to meet new people and doesn’t care as much about the cash prize. “But right now, I’m totally in on the joke.”
Another lookalike, 18 year-old TikToker Cramer Ekholm was even flown out from Wisconsin by beauty brand MCo Beauty to take part in the contest. Ekholm, who has more than 253,000 followers on TikTok, is most well-known on the platform because of his resemblance to Chalamet.
“It’s my number one comment on social media,” he says. “I used to not like it because I’m my own person but now I’ve learned to embrace it.”
Other lookalikes shared similar sentiments about their comparisons to the hearthrob actor. “Sometimes it’s a little bit minimizing,” says 19 year-old Max, who found out about the contest after several friends sent him the Partiful invite.
“I don’t really like it that much, it kinda makes me insecure a little bit. I get a little self-conscious but I don’t want to bring it up because it makes the conversation awkward. So I just have to smile and be like, ‘Thank you so much.’”
Another Timmy twin, 27 year-old Jake Robbins, says it can be an annoyance on dating apps, where girls call him a “discount Timothée Chalamet” but adds that he’s a cool guy so “I’ll take what I can get.”
At one point, two French tourists looked on in confusion as people huddled around taking photos of one lookalike with as much fervor as they would an A-list celebrity. I expected them to leave in disappointment when I told them they were just a lookalike. Instead, they both immediately reached for their phones to snap a picture.
For a brief moment on Sunday afternoon, any boy with a mop of curly hair got a taste of fame.