November 13, 2023
Watch: Timothée Chalamet Plays Butt-Wiggling Troye Sivan on 'SNL' and Sivan Responds
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 3 MIN.
Timothée Chalamet has a big gay following. So does Troye Sivan. It was seismic when Chalamet portrayed Sivan on an "SNL" sketch over the weekend, and Sivan himself posted about what a thrill it was.
"The sketch involved a woman (played by cast member Sarah Sherman) complaining to her doctor (played by cast member Bowen Yang) that she's been seeing a mysterious figure in her sleep every night," Variety narrated.
"When the doctor uses a new therapy to conjure the image while the woman is awake, Chalamet appears in a white tank-top, baggy blue pants and wavy blond hair."
Sarah Sherman's sleep therapy patient then exclaims that her nocturnal vision is "a gay guy," at which point Chalamet corrects her: "Not just any gay guy, homie. It's me! Troye Sivan!"
"He then breaks into a version of the choreography from Sivan's recent hit 'Got Me Started,' in which the singer at one point flashes his red briefs to the camera while – there's no other way to report this – wiggling his butt," Variety recounts.
Perhaps anticipating the question from certain sectors of the anti-LGBTQ+ crowd, the sleep therapy patient asks Chalamet, "What are you? Are you a demon?"
"No! Not quite, girlie," Chalamet responds, strolling over to join her on her hospital bed. "I'm an Australian YouTube twink turned indie pop star, and model turned HBO actor Troye Sivan being played by an American actor who can't do an Australian accent."
Sivan addressed his fans in a Sunday morning TikTok the day after the sketch aired.
"The only way that I can describe this is like it's a weird fucking dream," he posted in a 15-second clip. "Like, imagine..." Sivan broke into laugher. "I'm like, no, Timothée Chalamet was in my dream, but he was me – and he was wearing my clothes."
The video is truncated a moment after that, with Sivan still in mid-exclamation.
@troyesivan #stitch with @Sweet tea! ♬ original sound - Troye Sivan
Sivan captioned the video with the message, "@Sweet tea! LIKE WHAT IS HAPPENING RN LMAOOOOO".
Sivan went further still, replacing his profile picture on X (formerly known as Twitter) with a still from the "SNL" sketch that shows Chalamet in the role.
Watch the "SNL" skit above to see what else happens, including explanations for "gay famous" and "blouse," a punchline about what products are "so straight that they will drive gay hotties "out of your system," and the members of the episode's musical act Boygenius – along with Yang and Sherman – joining in for more butt-shaking choreography.
The sketch – and its observation that the star of HBO's "The Idol" is "sneaking into the mainstream" – is timely, considering that Sivan was nominated Sunday for not one, but two Grammys, including a nom for "Best Pop Dance Recording" for his "song of the summer," "Rush" – a category in which Sivan is going head-to-head with "Padam Padam" singer Kylie Minogue.
Sivan posted his reaction to the nominations on TikTok as well. "And getting impersonated by lil Timmy Tim on SNL I'm about to be soooo annoying," he said.
@troyesivan And getting impersonated by lil Timmy Tim on SNL I'm about to be soooo annoying
♬ PAPARAZZI - SOUNDS LiKE
The video for "Rush" is also up for a Grammy. Watch it below.
Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.