It seems that even big stars like Timothée Chalamet and Elle Fanning are extremely online.
The two stars of the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown sat down for a routine press interview with a now-famous-interviewer who became a surprising internet sensation last month. Chalamet and Fanning spoke with Out reporter Tracy E. Gilchrist in an interview that was published this week for LGBTQ+ magazine The Advocate and made sure to hold space for that iconic holding space meme.
Gilchrist became a viral meme last month after interviewing Wicked stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande while they were promoting their film. Gilchrist famously told the two actors that people were “holding space” for the lyrics of “Defying Gravity,” which turned into an unexpected emotional moment between Erivo and Grande. At one point, Grande gently grabbed onto Erivo’s finger in a show of support.
“It’s an honor talking to you,” Chalamet said to Gilchrist during their interview. “I feel, like, sort of starstruck.”
“I know you!” Fanning said. “You walked in, and I was like, Tracy!”
“Like, holy sh*t. This [interview] better be good,” Chalamet joked.
Gilchrist laughed along with Timothée Chalamet and Elle Fanning before telling the two actors that she was “holding space” for them. Gilchrist said she was also starstruck being in front of them, before Chalamet held out his finger to Fanning, who immediately held it like Grande did to Erivo.
“There’s nothing that we can do that can trump what happened,” Fanning said.
“I’m loving the energy though,” Gilchrist responded.
Gilchrist told Out that this viral moment has been “the wildest ride of my life, filled with so much laughter and joy.”
“This moment with Timothée and Elle was hilariously surreal,” she continued. “Before I was even seated, Elle looked up, and saw me, and said, ‘Tracy! Oh, Tracy’s famous.’ She then said, ‘My sister and I do the finger-hold all the time.’ And I’m thinking, ‘Your sister, Dakota [Fanning]?!’”
While Erivo and Grande were also responsible for an internet hall-of-fame moment, they recently broke down what happened in another interview with Variety. “I didn’t know what any part of it meant,” Grande said. “I didn’t understand the first sentence, and then I definitely didn’t understand what was happening — how [Erivo] responded.”
