Timothée Chalamet's grandmother was a Broadway dancer. So was his mother. His sister trained at the School of American Ballet. And last week, the 30-year-old actor sat in front of a live audience and declared that 'no one cares' aboutballet or opera anymore.

His old high school principal had something to say about that.

Deepak Marwah, head of Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in New York, published an open letter on Friday responding to commentsChalamet made during a CNN and Variety Town Hallon 24 February. The actor had been discussing shrinking audience attention spans with Matthew McConaughey at the University of Texas at Austin when the conversation turned to which art forms deserve to survive.

'I don't want to be working in ballet or opera, or things where it's like, 'Hey, keep this thing alive.' Even though it's like, no one cares about this anymore,' Chalamet said, before adding: 'All respect to the ballet and opera people out there. I just lost 14 cents in viewership,'according to NBC News.

Timothée Chalamet talking about growing up at the backstage of the New York City Ballet and how that impacted him:“My grandmother danced in the New York City Ballet, my mother danced in the New York City Ballet, my sister danced in the New York City Ballet. I grew up dreaming…pic.twitter.com/fUhGRMUpKG

Marwah did not come out swinging. The letter started gently. 'We are so incredibly proud of our own Timothée Chalamet,' it read.

Then came the correction. 'We believe that if a single performance, a single note, a single brushstroke, a single movement across a stage touches even one person, it is worthy. It matters. It is very much alive,'the BBC reported.

Marwah quoted Chalamet's own words back to him. 'Timothée, you yourself once said: 'I grew up backstage at the New York City Ballet. My grandmother danced there. My mother danced there. My sister danced there.' You come from this world. We know your heart, and we know you know better.' The letter closed with a message to current students: 'We see you. Keep going.'

Marwah is a LaGuardia alumnus and trained opera singer who taught vocal music at the school before taking over as principal in August 2023.

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Source: International Business Times UK