Heading into the Academy Awards, Timothée Chalamet looked like a serious contender.
But when Michael B. Jordan walked away with Best Actor, industry whispers pointed to something less glamorous than talent: likability.
Behind closed doors, several Academy voters reportedly cooled Chalamet as the season went on. The word “difficult” came up more than once – both on set and during the awards circuit. Insiders describe a pattern: “strong talent, but a reputation that didn’t exactly win hearts in the room.”
There were also murmurs about him being overly hands-on with campaign strategy – not always a crowd-pleaser when seasoned industry pros are involved. The more voters interacted with him, the less enthusiastic they became.
And no, it wasn’t about Kylie Jenner. If anything, source say she came out of this looking more relatable, thanks to her self-aware, go-with-the-chaos energy.
Chalamet, on the other hand? Let’s just say insiders were not exactly praising his sense of humour.
Meanwhile, Jordan was doing the exact opposite – and it showed. Think staying late after screening to thank staff, hyping up fellow nominees instead of himself, and generally being the kind of guy people want to vote for.
In a race where both actors delivered, the deciding factor may have been surprisingly simple: one candidate was admired… the other was genuinely liked.
