Actor Timothee Chalamet visits Minnesota, surprises Hibbing High School theater students
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The cast of Hibbing High School’s winter play were halfway through their last day of dress rehearsals when an unexpected guest came down from the back of the house.
“There were a few audible gasps and a lot of gobsmacked faces, and I think one person literally took a step backwards,” theater coach Megan Reynolds said.
Actor Timothee Chalamet was in town for a Bob Dylan tour of Hibbing, where the songwriter grew up. The tour included a stop at the high school’s stage, a 1920s-style, 1,800-seat theater where Dylan performed as a student.
He’s playing Dylan in an upcoming biopic called “A Complete Unknown,” scheduled to start filming in New York this year. Chalamet also reportedly visited Duluth, Dylan’s birthplace.
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Chalamet asked his tour guides if he could stop by rehearsals for the students’ one-act play, scenes from “The Girl in the White Pinafore” by Jiggs Burgess. He watched a bit of rehearsal from the back of the house before coming to say hello.
Students got to chat with Chalamet, ask questions about his work and snap some pictures for about 45 minutes.
“I think it was special for them not just to get to meet a famous actor or an experienced actor or a professional actor, but also someone who felt and treated them like a peer,” she said. “It really did just feel like theater kids meeting other theater kids.”
After he left, it was back to rehearsals. They still had a run-through of the show to do.
“They either could’ve been a wreck, or I thought they would be hyped up,” Reynolds said. “They performed better than I’d ever seen them perform.”
She said Hibbing has made some strides in its arts community while she’s been there. She hopes the attention around the celebrity visit gets people talking about its other arts offerings, like its community orchestra program, the Mesabi musical theater company, and live music performances.
For now, she’s focused on seeing this play across the finish line. The students have a public performance Friday and a performance in a competition on Saturday.
“I don’t have another famous person in my pocket to give an inspiring speech beforehand, unfortunately,” Reynolds said.
She’s hoping that the excitement of Thursday’s celebrity sighting — that, or plain old hard work and love of theater — will make for some good performances this weekend.