Few events offering only $50 as the reward can attract almost 10,000 people in New York City—unless it’s a lookalike competition for Oscar-nominated heartthrob Timothée Chalamet.
Washington Square Park became inundated with lanky men with curly hair and sharp facial features, or all of the above, on Oct. 27.
Some had even dressed as characters from Chalamet’s hit films like “Wonka” and “Dune,” all in pursuit of being named the best Timothée Chalamet lookalike.
Jersey City YouTuber Anthony Po, commonly known as AnthPo, organized the event under the alias “Gilbert.” Although he had put up less than 50 fliers all around Lower Manhattan, the event quickly went viral, leading to over 2,500 RSVPs on Partiful, a digital invitation app.
Compared to Gilbert’s Kai Cenat lookalike contest the day before, where only 20 people had shown up, the turnout for the Chalamet event was a complete contrast.
The crowd and contestants were filled with New York natives and individuals who had traveled to New York just for this event. One of the lookalikes had driven over 900 miles from St. Louis, Missouri, after discovering a news article about the event during his shift at Home Depot. He thought, “Yeah, I’ve got to do this.”
21-year-old Tristan Garrison made his way to New York with his brother, who doesn’t necessarily resemble Chalamet but has “the curly hair.” Garrison said in an exclusive interview with The Ticker that the plan was to use the prize money for gas to get back home or perhaps to frame the accomplishment and say, “Yeah, I won this.”
A familiar face had snuck his way into the crowd, disguised by a baseball cap and mask: the man of the hour himself had shown up. Chalamet did not compete or join the hosts at the event but did take photos with fans and contestants prior to leaving the crowd.
At 1 p.m., a red carpet welcomed the lookalikes, and for about 12 minutes, the crowd cheered in excitement. However, the event was abruptly shut down by the NYPD, who issued a $500 fine to the organizers for not having a permit to host the event in the space, and one contestant was arrested for reasons that remain unclear.
But the show must go on.
Almost immediately, Gilbert and his fellow judges quickly carried the trophy to transport the crowd to the Mercer Playground.
As they relocated, they began to ask the lookalikes pageant-like questions, asking them how they would make the world a better place, along with asking them to say something in French, due to Chalamet being half French.
The winner of the event was determined by the crowd’s responses through a booing/cheering voting system. The crowd chose Miles Mitchell as the “Best Tim,” as the huge cardboard check stated.
The 21-year-old Staten Island native was dressed as Willy Wonka, carrying a suitcase full of chocolate to hand out to the crowd.
The victorious lookalike proudly holds the title of “#1 Timothée Chalamet lookalike” and sports this in his Instagram bio, along with the phrase, “Yes, this is my personality for the next few days.” Despite his victory resulting from the crowd’s enthusiasm, some contestants disagree with his win.
New York Institute of Technology student Nicky Jovi said she believed Mitchell’s costume exaggerated the crowd’s perception of his likeness to the celebrity.
“Just because he puts on a Willy Wonka costume does not make him look like Timothée Chalamet,” Jovi said.
She also expressed disappointment with the layout of the event.
“It would’ve actually been fun if I could see the event. There were so many people blocking my view; I didn’t see anything, not even Timmy showing up.”
