Anthony “Gilbert” Po is a bit in shock. That’s what the content creator-turned-event organizer tells me moments before his first-annual Timothée Chalamet Lookalike Contest is about to start. Over the last month, Po put up “maybe 50” paper signs around West Village advertising the contest—and now, there are over 100 faux-Chalamets and their entourages mobbing Washington Square Park. “The event started out as a joke,” Po says. “To me, it will be until the very end. But I have friends working on the movie set he’s shooting in Soho right now. He was talking about the competition, he knows it’s happening. But I’m not sure if this is the safest place for him to just show up.”
Before Po, who actually resembles the actor we’ve all gathered to celebrate, can hop onto his antique bicycle and get the event started, the New York City cops show up. The crowd starts to grumble. “I wasn’t expecting Timothée to be here, but I wanted to see some hot lookalikes,” says Lola Wayne Villa, a student who found out about the event through the posters. As the cops start to issue citations (but before they start arresting people), Po cycles by like a top-hatted Pied Piper and the Chalamets follow. Apparently, he doesn’t know the fuzz has arrived.
Once organized in a circle, Po explains the very scientific rules: The crowd will be presented with each Chalamet and the one with the loudest cheers will be crowned king, winning a 6-foot trophy and a giant check for $50. There are a lot of off-duty Chalamets, a handful of all-black clad Dune screaming “I am the Voice from the Outer World! I will lead you to paradise!”, a solitary wigged Bob Dylan, and one very spirited Willy Wonka who is carrying a suitcase to complete his look. The actor’s appeal surpasses the human species, and there’s both a Corgi and a Pug here to compete.
“I don’t like big crowds,” Kyle, who is dressed in a black sweater and skinny scarf, tells me as his curls fall into his brown eyes. “But my parents read about this in the newspaper and really wanted me to do this. People have filmed me before at the airport thinking I was Timothée.”