Dempsey Bobbitt ‘28 decided, on a whim, to take a trip to New York City.
He got out of bed, showered and got dressed – donning a maroon jacket, purple tie and top hat. Then, he made his way to Washington Square Park, where he met up with a large group of people who looked vaguely familiar.
Bobbitt returned to Lafayette College $50 richer, with a top-five finish in a competition that received national attention and his face appearing in Vogue, GQ and The Cut — all thanks to a passing resemblance to actor Timothée Chalamet.
“For me, it’s kind of a funny little story I went on as a side quest,” said Bobbitt, who does not believe he looks like Chalamet.
The “Timothée Chalamet Lookalike Contest” ended with a $500 fine for the organizers, one lookalike being arrested and a surprise appearance from Chalamet himself. The unofficial event, organized by YouTuber Anthony Po, went viral for the ensuing antics.
Long before being nationally recognized as the guy who looks the fourth-most like Chalamet, Bobbitt’s Instagram bio has read “Kirkland Timothée Chalamet.” He heard about the contest when, three weeks prior, strangers yelled across the street at him in New York City urging him to enter the competition.
“It’s a little unnerving,” Bobbitt said. “All the other guys were like, models, or they were performing arts people. They were all so into it.”
The event drew a crowd of around 2,000 people, according to Vanity Fair. Luke Robinson, Bobbitt’s hometown friend who is now a freshman at New York University, supported his friend from the crowd.
“It was actually pretty exciting, pretty electric atmosphere,” Robinson said.
The crowd chose the contest finalists with a “yay” or “nay” system. Robinson described Bobbitt’s audience reaction as “very positive.”
The overall winner was decided by a panel of judges.
“I do think Dempsey got robbed a little bit, but, you know, I’d be a little biased saying that,” Robinson said.
Bobbitt did not find it difficult to make his way to the front of the crowd while wearing his Willy Wonka costume (an outfit he happened to already have).
“It was Moses parting the sea,” he said of the crowd. “It was actually really funny.”
The winner of the contest was also dressed as Willy Wonka, however. As Bobbitt noted — he was dressed as the Johnny Depp version of the character.
“I’m just saying, maybe he should’ve done a little bit more research into his Wonkas,” Bobbitt said.
While he does not feel strongly about his placement, Bobbitt has some issues with the other rankings. He believes that the person who got third place — a man who wore a red Yankees hat and was said to be “really funny” — deserved the gold.
The look-alikes have kept in contact via an Instagram group chat called “Brothers of Chalamet.” They reunited on Halloween with VIP access to the New York Jets game where they filmed content on the field.
“That was my biggest worry — like, what if I don’t get along with these people?” Bobbitt said. “It turns out everyone is so down-to-earth.”
The competition was parodied on the most recent episode of Saturday Night Live. The show’s take on the event paralleled Bobbitt’s.
“I went into it being like, ‘Oh my god, I can’t wait to see all these skinny, weird, rat-looking white men,’ and that was kind of the SNL skit,” he said.
The experience has left Bobbitt inspired to be more extroverted.
“I am definitely going to be more proactive about taking risks, like going out to new things,” he said.
