The celebrity-on-celebrity interview is good now. This week, i-D blessed us with a beautiful gift — a conversation between two sensitive kings and hair icons, Harry Styles and Timothée Chalamet.
The two discussed art (“David Bowie once said that, ‘Creativity is like wading out into the ocean. You wade out to the point where you can’t touch the bottom, you’re a little scared, and that’s where you do your best work.’ Do you agree?” was Styles’s first question; Chalamet did agree), journaling (“To take time to self reflect is important,” said Chalamet) and politics (“It’s important to stand up for what we think is right,” said Harry). They also talked about The Peach Scene in Call Me by Your Name.
H: Can you still eat peaches?
T: [Laughs] Umm I can, but not without thinking about it…
H: I’ve had a hard time…
T: [Laughs again] That’s the most awkward scene to see with your parents in the whole world. My poor father…
AND THEN, as if thinking about Harry thinking about Timothée humping a peach wasn’t overwhelming enough, the former One Direction star went on to suggest that maybe Chalamet’s father had also, at some point, humped a peach.
“I’m sure he’s done it too,” Styles said, before asking, “You’re close with your family, right? ”
What! Incredible.
The pair also discussed toxic masculinity and the power of vulnerability, and it is a truly wonderful exchange.
H: I didn’t grow up in a man’s man world. I grew up with my mum and my sister. But I definitely think in the last two years, I’ve become a lot more content with who I am. I think there’s so much masculinity in being vulnerable and allowing yourself to be feminine, and I’m very comfortable with that. Growing up you don’t even know what those things mean. You have this idea of what being masculine is and as you grow up and experience more of the world, you become more comfortable with who you are. Today it’s easier to embrace masculinity in so many different things. I definitely find — through music, writing, talking with friends and being open — that some of the times when I feel most confident is when I’m allowing myself to be vulnerable. It’s something that I definitely try and do.
T: That’s really beautiful and inspiring, and certainly it goes back to feeling comfortable in chaos and creating in madness. It’s almost a high to be vulnerable. I really get that. I think it can be achieved in art, but also in intimacy. It’s the craziest feeling to achieve that vulnerability. If us having this conversation, in any infinitesimal way, can help anyone, a guy, a girl, realise that being vulnerable is not a weakness, not a social barrier. It doesn’t mean you’re crazy or hyper emotional, you’re just human, which I think is something your music gets at and hopefully my movies do too. Humans are complex; we need to feel a lot of things. We are not homogeneous.
Thank you, my sweeties. I love you.
