Timothée Chalamet Knows Who He Wants to Play in a Biopic After Bob Dylan – and it’s Unexpected

From crashing his own lookalike contest to offering insightful color commentary on college football, Dune star Timothée Chalamet is full of surprises. For instance, the actor unexpectedly nominated bow-tie enthusiast and Inside the NBA co-host Ernie “EJ” Johnson as his ideal biopic role after portraying Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown.  

Unsullied by sponsorship since 1989, Johnson has been delivering “Neato Stats of the Night” and reigning in his former professional basketball colleagues on Inside the NBA, an indisputable institution in the sports broadcasting landscape. Chalamet, who recently impressed audiences with his comprehensive sports knowledge on ESPN’s College GameDay, expressed his desire to play EJ during an interview with SiriusXM. The actor even jokingly worried that the sports broadcaster might have a shortlist of stars in mind for the role that he’s not on, but he threw his Wonka hat in the ring nonetheless.

Though Chalamet delivers this left-field choice with some degree of jest, the Paul Atreides actor is a vocal fan of Inside the NBA. Johnson cohosts the show with former basketball stars Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley, and Kenny “The Jet” Smith, the latter of which Chalamet has dubbed his style icon. Like Spike Lee, Aubrey Plaza, and Jason Sudeikis, Chalamet ranks among Hollywood’s contingent of basketball nerds often found courtside throughout the NBA and WNBA seasons. However, Chalamet seemingly understands that the real show on any given night of NBA action comes when O’Neal rounds up league lowlights in “Shaqtin’ a Fool”, Smith sprints full speed from his desk to the big screen, or Barkley loses another round of “Who Does He Play For?”. The even-keeled Johnson steers the ship calmy through the aforementioned Inside the NBA segments, earning a gentle and paternal reputation among viewers.

As the most subdued personality behind the Inside the NBA desk, many played off Chalamet’s suggestion of portraying him as merely a joke. However, Johnson has as much of a story to tell as his various NBA colleagues have throughout the years, as demonstrated in the 2021 docuseries The Inside Story and his memoir Unscripted: The Unpredictable Moments That Make Life Extraordinary. Johnson has been an integral force in shaping Inside the NBA into the beloved institution it has become and faced many hardships in his personal life along the way such as his battle with non-Hodgkin lymphoma and the tragic loss of his son Michael in 2021.

In many ways, Chalamet’s off-handed remarks may have inadvertently uncovered the perfect sports biopic about an unsung broadcasting hero. Now the question remains, who should play O’Neal, Barkley, and Smith in the hypothetical film?