Luca Guadagnino Only Wanted Timothée Chalamet For His Bones And All Character

Who doesn't want Timothée Chalamet in their movies right now? Luca Guadagnino certainly does, having previously worked with the actor on "Call Me By Your Name." However, given the incredibly busy schedules of both the actor and the director, it's not surprising that they haven't made any further collaborations since the 2017 Oscar-nominated film.

Thankfully, that drought is about to end. The pair were able to reunite for "Bones & All," the adaptation of Camille DeAngelis' horror romance novel and a potential star vehicle for "Lost in Space" actress Taylor Russell. Chalamet will play Lee, a drifter who encounters Russell's character Maren and bonds with her over their shared condition. See, when either of them feels a sense of connection to another person, they develop the overwhelming desire to eat their entire body. This obviously poses some problems as they grow closer throughout their combined trip — is the young love that they share powerful enough to fight off their cannibalistic urges?

That question likely won't be answered until the film releases later this year, but what is known is how Chalamet managed to get involved in the project despite his busy schedule (he's got to obtain desert power, after all). According to an interview Guadagnino recently conducted with Deadline, Chalamet was the only possible choice for the main male lead.

Given how much of the story revolves around their burgeoning love, it takes a while for Lee to meet Maren in the original novel. Guadagnino said that the character's introduction was similarly delayed in the original script, with Lee being introduced on the 45th page. 

"Once Lee arrived in the script, it felt like a blast of joy," the director recounted, "because the character was wonderful, but at the same time, and without even thinking about it rationally, I immediately saw Timothée in it."

While he hadn't yet envisioned an actress for Maren, he knew immediately that Chalamet had to play Lee. After telling screenwriter David Kajganich that he was interested in directing the film, he sent the script over to his previous collaborator. Thankfully for Guadagnino, he was both available and interested, shooting "Bones & All" to the top of the director's list of attached projects.

"He said to me, 'I'd like to talk to you and Dave to see where this character should go, and so a conversation started. That conversation made the character more mature and made the movie more mature in turn."

"Bones & All" will premiere at the 2022 Venice Film Festival and will screen at others before its theatrical release on November 23, 2022.