Oscar-tipped actor gives salary from Woody Allen film to charity

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Timothee Chalamet and Woody AllenImage source, Getty Images
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Chalamet said he could not discuss working with Allen "because of contractual obligations"

The star of Oscar-tipped drama Call Me By Your Name has announced he is giving his entire salary for appearing in Woody Allen's next film to charity.

"I don't want to profit from my work on the film," wrote Timothee Chalamet on Instagram, external.

The 22-year-old is one of a number of actors who have distanced themselves from Allen over historic accusations that he molested his adopted daughter.

Allen, 82, has repeatedly denied the claims and has never been prosecuted.

Chalamet, who was nominated for a Bafta last week for his role in Call Me By Your Name, worked with Allen last year on the director's forthcoming film, entitled A Rainy Day in New York.

Jude Law, Selena Gomez, Elle Fanning and Rebecca Hall also have roles in the Amazon Studios production, which is scheduled for release later this year.

Last week, Hall said she now regretted her decision, external to appear in the film - adding that she had donated her salary to the Time's Up Legal Defence Fund.

Image source, Getty Images
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Rebecca Hall previously worked with Allen on his 2008 film Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Gomez has yet to comment, though her mother, Mandy Teefey, has given her thoughts on the subject in a message to a fan who contacted her on Instagram.

"No one can make Selena do anything she doesn't want to," she wrote. "I had a long talk with her about not working with [Allen] and it didn't click."

'Respect and dignity'

In his post, Chalamet said he would be giving his salary to Time's Up, RAINN, external (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) and the LGBT Community Centre, external in New York.

The actor said he wanted "to be worthy of standing shoulder to shoulder with the brave artists who are fighting for all people to be treated with the respect and dignity they deserve".

"I have, to this point, chosen projects from the perspective of a young actor trying to walk in the footsteps of more seasoned actors I admire," he wrote.

"But I am learning that a good role isn't the only criteria for accepting a job."

In Call Me By Your Name, Chalamet plays a gifted music student who embarks on a romance with an older man while holidaying in Italy.

The New York-born actor can also be seen in Lady Bird, Greta Gerwig's coming-of-age story about a precocious teenager's relationship with her mother.

Gerwig, who worked with Allen on his 2012 comedy To Rome With Love, has also expressed regret for accepting a role from the Oscar-winning film-maker.

Image source, Getty Images
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Greta Gerwig and Griffin Newman are among others to express misgivings about the director

"If I had known then what I know now, I would not have acted in the film," she said last week, external. "I have not worked for him again, and I will not work for him again."

Last year, actor Griffin Newman said he "deeply regretted" taking a role in A Rainy Day in New York and that he had been "a coward" for not turning it down.

Yet not every Hollywood actor has disavowed Allen, director of such Oscar-winning films as Annie Hall, Hannah and Her Sisters and Midnight in Paris.

Alec Baldwin, who worked with Allen on Alice, Blue Jasmine and To Rome With Love, said the "renunciation of him and his work" was "unfair and sad".

"Woody Allen was investigated forensically by two states" - New York and Connecticut - "and no charges were filed," he tweeted on Tuesday, external.

He described working with Allen as "one of the privileges" of his career.

'Time up for my predator'

Allen was investigated over a 1992 claim by his adoptive daughter, Dylan Farrow, that he sexually assaulted her at the family's Connecticut home.

Prosecutors chose not to charge the film-maker and he has always denied the allegations, which he claimed had been fabricated by his former partner Mia Farrow.

The allegations resurfaced last week ahead of the Golden Globes award ceremony in Los Angeles in a series of tweets posted by Dylan Farrow.

"No predator should be spared by virtue of their 'talent'," she wrote, external, adding that she would be watching the ceremony "to see if now, finally, time is up for my predator too".

Wonder Wheel, the film Allen made before A Rainy Day in New York starring Kate Winslet and Justin Timberlake, will be released in the UK on 9 March.

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