While working together on 2021’s Dune, Zendaya and Timothée Chalamet formed a close bond. However, the true beginning of their friendship dates back even further, to when they were strangers on a plane. The duo recounted how they actually met while appearing on Jimmy Fallon Live! with their Dune: Part Two co-stars Florence Pugh and Austin Butler on Feb. 1, and the story involves an airport, a fall, and a failure to help.
The Real First Encounter
Kimmel asked Zendaya and Chalamet if they met through Dune, and they said yes before Chalamet offered a correction: “Well, there was a weird airport meeting,” he said. The memory doesn’t seem to be a fond one for Zendaya. Confirming that was “technically” their first meeting, she said, “Well, we were on the same flight and I fell in the airport,” before adding, “Yeah, I don’t want to talk about it.”
Unfortunately for Zendaya, Pugh wanted to know more — specifically whether or not Chalamet helped her after her fall while getting luggage. He did not, it turns out, and Zendaya was surprised to learn that he saw it happen. Pugh pressed him on why he didn’t lend a hand, and Chalamet explained, “Well, I didn’t know her. I didn’t know what to do.”
Second Time’s The Charm
Their first meeting might not have gone well, but their path got smoother from there. Chalamet told Kimmel he has “great friendships” with all three of his co-stars, and then shouted out Zendaya specifically for helping him “set up [his] first apartment in New York.” It had a “very teenage boy” vibe initially, she explained, so they stocked up “a few necessities” at Bed Bath & Beyond. When she was done working her magic, he had “all the big boy stuff,” she said.
As a friend, Zendaya offers a lot more than decorating tips. Chalamet sang her praises in a birthday tribute to her in 2020 and called her “one of the most inspiring people [he’s] met.” He also highlighted her “ethical character,” “moral compass,” “and fearless creative abandon.”
The two further celebrated their friendship in a recent behind-the-scenes featurette from the Dune team and Warner Bros. Pictures. “Everyone knows me and Timothée are besties,” she said in the video. “It’s important to have someone that you can laugh with.” Meanwhile, he called her “a real partner in crime” and shared how grateful he is that they share “a very, very strong friendship.”
Watch the full story of their awkward first meeting below.
