Actor Timothée Chalamet says it’s tough being alive for the TikTok generation. The star attended the Venice Film Festival, where his new film Bones & All premiered on Thursday.
Chalamet and 28-year-old actress Taylor Russell play two teenage cannibals who set off on a cross-country road trip in the ’80s American Midwest.
Maren (Russell) and Lee (Chalamet) bond in this romantic story of first love and shared taste for human flesh.
During the film’s press conference in Venice, Italy, Chalamet, 26, said, “To be young now, and to be young whenever – I can only speak for my generation – is to be intensely judged.”
“I can’t imagine what it is to grow up with the onslaught of social media, and it was a relief to play characters who are wrestling with an internal dilemma absent the ability to go on Reddit, or Twitter, Instagram or TikTok and figure out where they fit in.”
He added that social media will eventually lead to a “societal collapse”.
“Without casting judgment on that, you can find your tribe there, but I think it’s tough to be alive now. I think societal collapse is in the air or it smells like it – and, without being pretentious, that’s why hopefully movies matter, because that’s the role of the artist… to shine a light on what’s going on.”
Chalamet fears for his little brother and others who may fall prey to social media’s ill effects on society.
“I have a little brother who’s 19, 20-ish, and thinking about him in this world, and the self-judgement and judgment of others that people seem so flooded with every day in such a drastic and severe way is so scary, because the hope is that you can find your own compass within all of it and that seems like a difficult task now.”
Taylor is a Canadian actress, best known for her role as Judy Robinson in the Netflix science fiction series Lost in Space (2018–2021). She also starred as Lark Voorhies in the Lifetime television film The Unauthorized Saved by the Bell Story.
