It was a bit of fun in Washington Square Park: a contest to see who looked the most like the actor and heartthrob Timothée Chalamet.
Look, that guy has the haunted stare of Timothée Chalamet in “Dune.” And that guy has the puckish whimsy of Timothée Chalamet in “Wonka.” And that guy has the brooding good looks of Timothée Chalamet.
Hold on. That one is Timothée Chalamet.
Yes, the Oscar-nominated movie star showed up unannounced at his own look-alike contest on Sunday afternoon. He was sporting a mustache, but still looked an awful lot like himself. Nevertheless he did not enter he contest.
He did briefly pose for some pictures before moving on to whatever Hollywood superstars do with their Sunday afternoons.
The event as advertised seemed rather humble. A Sunday afternoon get-together with a modest $50 prize.
Unfortunately the lure of being surrounded by a host of Timothée Chalamets — even without the unannounced appearance of the real McCoy — brought a throng of attendees, straining the scale of the park.
“All we do is hang up posters, but you never know how it’s going to go,” said the organizer, Anthony Po, a Jersey City YouTuber with 1.8 million subscribers who made his name by eating an entire of tub of cheeseballs. The day before, he had hosted a contest for look-alikes of the YouTuber Kai Cenat. About 50 people showed up.
This time, “There had to be close to 10,000 people who tried to get in,” he said.
The crowd was not lured by Mr. Po’s internet fame. He intentionally left his name off posters to keep his involvement a surprise.
The large crowd led the police to intervene, seeking to keep order. “At one point, an officer approached me and screamed that I needed to leave the park,” an entrant, Reed Putman, said in an essay for CNN. “I ignored him and moved away, but I saw another contestant get handcuffed and dragged out of the area.”
Four people were taken into custody over an “unscheduled demonstration” on Sunday, the New York Police Department said in a statement.
Mr. Po had no inkling that among the throng would be the genuine article. “I thought, ‘There is not a single place on earth that is less safe at 1 p.m. Sunday for Timothée Chalamet than Washington Square Park,’” he said.
“It was overwhelming,” Mr. Putman wrote. “I felt hounded by the TV cameras and journalists, as if I were an animal in the zoo or a circus.”
Video taken at the event shows a floppy-haired dreamboat being led away by officers. Breathe easy. It was a look-alike.
(Some fans shouted “Free Timmy” at the police, GQ reported. Whether they suspected the arrested man was the actor himself or whether they were just paying tribute to the look-alike’s uncanny look-alikeness is unknown.)
Timothée Chalamet did not respond to a request for comment through his talent agency.
The contest migrated to Mercer Playground a couple of blocks away, and despite the chaos, a winner was selected: Miles Mitchell of Staten Island, who chose Timothée Chalamet’s Willy Wonka look. Mr. Putnam, who was dressed as Timothée Chalamet in his Chanel ads, said he believed Mr. Mitchell won in part because he was handing out chocolate.
Mr. Po said of the judges’ decision, “I guess it was his charisma.”
It’s probably just as well that Timothée Chalamet did not enter the Timothée Chalamet look-alike contest. He might have lost.
Dolly Parton has recounted entering a Parton look-alike contest in a Hollywood bar, where she did not identify herself. She said she got the least applause of any of the contestants. Charlie Chaplin Jr. told the story of his father entering a Chaplin look-alike contest at Grauman’s Chinese Theater. He finished third.
“Dad always thought this one of the funniest jokes imaginable — whether on him or the judges or both, I don’t know,” he wrote in “My Father, Charlie Chaplin.”
Mr. Po said he did not plan to host any other look-alike contests because “people would know it was me.”
He said the stunt was among the biggest of career. “The time I faked an alien invasion in Florida, cheeseball and this.”
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