Timothée Chalamet and Elle Fanning are out and about promoting their latest film A Complete Unknown, and it seems they’re having a blast on the press tour. On December 28, the co-stars sat down with Out journalist Tracy Gilchrist, who’s recently become a viral sensation after interviewing Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo back in November.
The interview kicked off with Tracy referencing the now-famous “holding space” moment from the Wicked interview. For context, in that viral clip, Tracy told Ariana and Cynthia that she was “holding space” for them, and it went down in meme history. Chalamet and Fanning, both a little starstruck, decided to recreate the iconic moment. Tracy, still channeling that meme energy, said, “First off, I just want to let you know that I am holding space for you,” to which Timothée held out his index finger, and Elle pinched it with her thumb and pointer finger—just like Ariana and Cynthia did. Classic!
Timothée couldn’t help but gush a little, saying, “It’s an honor talking to you; I feel like sort of starstruck.” Elle, ever the cheeky one, added, “There’s nothing that we can do that can trump what happened, you know what I mean?”
Now, the “holding space” moment has its own unique backstory. In her interview with Ariana and Cynthia, Tracy had brought up the lyric “holding space” from Wicked‘s Defying Gravity, and it sparked a heartfelt conversation about what the phrase meant, especially to the LGBTQ+ community. While Cynthia explained what the lyric meant to her, Ariana was caught holding Cynthia’s finger, which led to the viral clip. Ariana later explained in a Variety interview that she thought Cynthia was on the verge of tears, so she instinctively reached out to hold her finger, not realizing the internet would run wild with the moment. “I just wanted to be there because I knew something big was happening,” Ariana said.
As for Timothée and Elle, this press tour marks their second time working together, following their 2019 collaboration in A Rainy Day in New York, directed by Woody Allen. In A Complete Unknown, Timothée plays the legendary Bob Dylan, and Elle takes on the role of one of his love interests, Sylvie Russo. The film hit theaters on Christmas Day, adding another memorable chapter to their already impressive careers.
