[19] She spent her summers in Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, in Haute-Loire, at the house of her paternal grandparents, which led her to incorporate some French customs into her life.
[21][22] In 2001, she began taking classes at the School of American Ballet, and at age 10, danced in a Broadway production of A Midsummer Night's Dream.
[24][25] Chalamet attended the School of American Ballet until 2010, after a biking accident hindered any chances of furthering her dancing career.
[26][28][33] After college, Chalamet worked various odd jobs, including bartending, copyediting, and babysitting, while writing in her free time.
[35][28] Chalamet started her career with small roles in television shows such as One Life to Live and Royal Pains.
Since 2016 she has worked in short films like Je Suis Mes Actes and Between Fear and Laughter, which she wrote and directed.
In 2017, she wrote Agnes et Milane, directed by Tristan Tilloloy, appeared in Margot, and starred in Gravats by Hong Kai Lai.
In 2019, Chalamet wrote another short, Entre Deux Mondes, directed by Myriam Doumenq, and starred as Marion in Comme des Grands, directed by Ania Gauer and Julien Gauthier, for which she won the Best Actress Award at the IndieXFilmFest section of the Los Angeles International Film Festival.
[36] The next year she starred in another three short films: Je Suis la Nouvelle Adjani by Khady N'Diaye, Seasick by Lindsey Ryan, and Canines by Abel Danan, which was selected for the Festival international du film fantastique de Gérardmer.
On October 14, 2020, Variety reported that Chalamet was set to star as Kimberly, "the valedictorian of a working-class public high school in a humble Arizona suburb", in Mindy Kaling's comedy The Sex Lives of College Girls for HBO Max.
[43][44] In September 2023, Chalamet starred in the Meet Cute podcast series Kerri,[45] and was honored by the Creative Coalition at the 2023 Television Humanitarian Awards.
[46] She appeared as Paola in Iris Brey's Split, a French television series, alongside Alma Jodorowsky and Jehnny Beth.
David Ehrlich of IndieWire, described her cameo in the film as "laugh-out-loud",[53] while Laura Bradley of The Daily Beast, called it "gloriously twisted.