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Washington Square Park in Lower Manhattan is usually a popular spot for New York University students to smoke cigarettes, read books and hang out between classes.
However, on Sunday (October 27), the typically quiet 10-acre city park fell into chaos as huge crowds gathered to witness a viral Timothée Chalamet look-alike contest.
Last week, a post circulated on X advertising the competition to find the Call Me By Your Name star’s doppelganger with the motivation of a $50 prize for the winner. According to the virtual invitation, over 2,500 people had RSVP’d saying they planned to attend.
By 1pm, a sea of people had gathered to witness the contest. Many of those competing had even dressed up in costume as some of the actor’s most famous characters, such as Willy Wonka.
As The Independent began speaking to the contestants, it became clear that many of them had been convinced to enter by their friends.
“I have been badgered for five-ish years now that I look like Timothée,” Spencer DeLorenzo told The Independent. “I really have no outlet to exploit my charm, and then I saw this.”
Another contestant, Vincent Panetta, said: “A homeless man has told me before that I look like Timothée Chalamet, a couple of people on the street, a friend of mine once. I get a lot of Bob Dylan comments and he’s playing Bob Dylan, so I thought I had a good a chance as any.”
Chalamet has been spotted filming around the city in recent weeks for the forthcoming Bob Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown, directed by James Mangold.
“I’m always flattered if anyone says I look like him, but I feel like my features are pretty different than his,” Chalamet look-alike Michael O’Donohue told The Independent modestly. “Any white boy who’s pointy gets told they look like him even if they don’t actually.”
Many of those who weren’t competing in the contest were hoping Chalamet himself would show up.
“I ran into Timothée Chalamet while he was filming in the area the other day,” Mari Huang said. She explained that because she “fangirled” over him, she wanted this to be her chance to appear more calm in front of him.
Another woman named Sommer was seen holding up a sign that read, “Hi Timothées!” alongside a box filled with business cards. The cards state that she is a single 24-year-old woman who is willing to go on a date with any of the contestants.
“Hinge isn’t working anymore,” she told The Independent.
The contest began with the event’s organizer revealing himself as YouTuber Anthony Po. He requested all of the contestants to step into the middle of the crowd until suddenly police sirens rang out.
Po ended up receiving a $500 fine because he did not have a permit to host that many people in the park as officers attempted to break up the crowd. “I’m hoping it’s just the fine,” he told The Independent. “We didn’t do anything wrong, it’s just a lot of people. And we hung up 50 posters, we had nothing to do with marketing it.”
“‘Tis the way of culture. And this is the price of culture,” he added, proudly holding up the ticket he received.
Attendees then received a text sent en masse by Po explaining that the contest would be moved to another location.
“WE CANNOT BE STOPPED,” the message began. “COME TO MERCER PLAYGROUND DOWN THE STREET TO COME MEET OUR TIMOTHÉES!”
In between the chaos from the location change and law enforcement intervening, shrieks began to erupt from the crowd as word began to spread that the real Chalamet had indeed made his way to the event.
The Dune actor was filmed walking through the crowd and hugging some of the contestants while posing for photos.
The winner of the event was determined by how much applause they received from the crowd with Miles Mitchell taking home both the $50 check and a large trophy. He was seen dressed up as Willy Wonka, which he said was going to be his Halloween costume this year.
To emphasize his character, he carried around a suitcase filled with candy to throw into the crowd.
“I’m excited and I’m also overwhelmed,” Mitchell told the Associated Press following his win. “There were so many good look-alikes. It was really a toss-up.”
Although the event may not have gone exactly as planned, Po declared it a victory. “We were fully expecting it to not happen, so the fact that it happened makes it more than a success.”
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