Timothée Chalamet is one of the most exciting young actors working in Hollywood today. He burst on the scene with acclaimed roles in Call Me By Your Name and Lady Bird, and this year, he added another impressive starring role to his resume with The King.

The Netflix historical drama tells the story of King Henry V (or Hal), who reluctantly inherits his father’s throne and leads his country into war with France. The movie takes inspiration from William Shakespeare’s work on the subject while also grounding with some more historical accuracy. While the film wasn’t a massive hit with audiences or critics, Chalamet turns in another powerful performance, cementing him as a stunning young talent. Here are some of Timothée Chalamet’s most impressive scenes from The King.

10 Summoned By The King

Mendelsohn plays Hal’s father, King Henry IV, in the film, and though it is a small role, he is once again a welcomed presence and shares a couple of memorable scenes with Chalamet.

Their first scene together finds the king summoning his estranged son to tell him that he will not be king. While Mendelsohn really steals the scene, Chalamet manages to convey so much about his relationship with his family in this small moment. He shows contempt and a rebellious attitude towards his father while simultaneously showing concern for his young brother who will be fighting his father’s wars.

9 Single Combat

When we are first introduced to Hal, he is a hard-drinking and irresponsible young man, but he quickly proves himself to be more capable than he seems. Fearing for his younger brother’s life, Hal rides to join his brother’s army and end the war by putting his own life on the line.

He challenges the enemy, Henry Percy to single combat to decide the outcome of the battle and avoid unnecessary bloodshed. Chalamet gets a chance to show off his badass side as he strides into the fight stone-faced and focused. Though the brutal fight is chaotic, Hal shows his heroic streak.

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8 His Father’s Deathbed

Following the death of his younger brother in battle, Hal is asked to take his place as next in line for the throne. He is also asked to visit his father on his deathbed. Hal grants his father one last meeting, but this time he has much more to say.

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Angered by his brother’s death, Hal confronts his severely ill father without sympathy or compassion. Yet when his father uses his final words to ask him to be king, Chalamet gives an amazing, conflicted performance. He tearfully and reluctantly takes the position, promising to be a better king than his father.

7 Gifts For A King

After being named the new king, Hal and his loyalist followers have a celebration in which he is presented with gifts from allied rulers. At this moment, Hal once again proves his critics wrong by playing the political game well and sharing the wealth of his gifts with others. However, one special gift he keeps for himself.

From the Dauphin of France, Hal receives a ball, a clear insult which calls him out as a child. Chalamet plays the scene in an interesting way, hiding his emotional reaction from the gift while acknowledging the challenge that it represents. He is dignified even in the face of mockery.

6 Punishing Traitors

It is not long into his time as king that Hal encounters many daunting issues. France is seemingly provoking him to war with insults and an apparent assassination plot. Even worse, he soon finds that he has traitors in his midst who seem to be conspiring with the French to overthrow the new king.

When Hal confronts the two traitors, including his cousin, Chalamet gives a layered performance to the moment. He is at once hurt by the betrayal and filled with rage. He does not hesitate to sentence them to death and spares no words in condemning them. His emotionless expression as they are beheaded is haunting.

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5 Meeting The Dauphin

Much has been said about Robert Pattinson’s performance as the Dauphin of France. While he might not have the most accurate French accent in film history, there’s no denying that it is a fun performance that brings a spark to the movie.

Pattinson’s scenes opposite Chalamet are especially fun as Pattison chews the scenery as this over-the-top villain while Chalamet remains stoic and intense. Their first meeting is a lot of fun with Dauphin explaining his gruesome plan for Hal while the king listens with simmering rage but never giving the French prince what he wants.

4 Confronting Falstaff

John Falstaff is one of Shakespeare’s most famous comedic characters, as Hal’s overweight drinking buddy. The version of Falstaff we see in The King, played by Joel Egerton, is a much more competent and heroic one.

Falstaff is Hal’s only true friend who accompanies him to war and as the war eats away at Hal’s humanity, his friend remains a constant voice of reason. When Hal orders the French prisoners to be executed, Falstaff calmly refuses and when Hal grows angrier, he reminds him he is not that man. Egerton and Chalamet have great chemistry and their clashing in this scene is intense.

3 Into Battle

Chalamet has proven himself to be a great dramatic actor, but The King shows that he can be a convincing action hero as well. The film doesn’t have a lot of battle sequences, but the final fight is a compelling one.

Trusting a battle plan from Falstaff, Hal leads his army against the Dauphin. Proving himself to be a heroic king, he charges into battle first and remains in the middle of the fight the whole time. It is a brutal, frightening and grounded fight and Chalamet makes for a strong warrior.

2 Meeting His New Wife

After defeating the Dauphin in battle, France surrenders to Hal. As part of their arrangement, the King of France offers his daughter to Hal to be his queen and unite the two countries. When back in England, Catherine (Lily-Rose Depp) arrives to marry him.

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In their brief conversation upon meeting, Catherine proves she is willing to speak her mind, even to Hal. She questions his motivations for going to war with France and Chalamet is fantastic in his complex reaction. He is defiant and angry but then begins to realize she is making a lot of sense.

1 Another Traitor

After speaking with Catherine, Hal realizes that he was provoked into a war not by France but by his own advisors, mainly William (Sean Harris). He confronts William in a scene that perfectly illustrates the complexity of Hal as a character.

He commands the situation at first, humiliating William and making him grow more and more anxious. But his own childish behavior also comes out, acting like a young boy who has been embarrassed and lashes out. His final and brutal blow to William shows he is a king who wants justice but whose emotions might overcome that desire.

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About The Author


Colin McCormick
(2030 Articles Published)

Colin McCormick is a Senior Writer with Screen Rant and has been a proud member of the team since 2019. In addition to his work as Screen Rant, Colin is also a writer of News, Feature and Review pieces at Game Rant. Colin has had a long passion and obsession with movies going back to the first time he saw The Lion King in theaters. Along with movies, Colin stays up-to-date on the latest must-see TV shows. While he loves to find interesting projects in any kind of genre, he has a special movie of crime stories that are infused with a little dark humor much like the work of his favorite author, Elmore Leonard.

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