A Timothée Chalamet Sunday’s lookalike contest in New York took the city and the Internet by storm, both because of its premise and the crowds it drew, but also because of the brief appearance of the real Chalamet.

The arrival of the real Chalamet was a surprise. But the overall response to this farcical event was not.

“Let’s just say I definitely have my finger on the pulse of the culture,” said organizer and YouTuber Anthony Po. The Hollywood Reporter.

Po has been a content creator for around seven years and briefly worked for MrBeast last year, before deciding to focus full-time on his own YouTube channel, which has almost two million followers and is full of creative stunts. The stunts include Po’s decision to eat a pot of cheese balls in front of crowds at Union Square while masked, earning him the nickname Cheeseball Man, quasi-New York superhero status, and other videos.

After imagining future stunts, Po came up with the idea of ​​a lookalike contest to be held in Washington Square Park with a $50 cash prize. The event was advertised throughout New York on a series of flyers (he hired a flyer manager, who also knows when and where to fly out), as well as a Partiful invitation, which attracted thousands of RSVPs. Partiful also ended up sponsoring part of the event, including the $50 cash prizes that were ultimately given to each participant.

Po hosted the eventdressed in a top hat and tuxedo, started at Washington Square Park, but was then forced to move by police to a nearby park (with the arrest of one participant) as the number of participants increased. Numerous lookalikes were interviewed on stage about their plans with Kylie Jenner, Chalamet’s rumored girlfriend, as well as their fluency in French. In the end, it was Miles Mitchell, a lookalike dressed as Willy Wonka, who took first place.

Po spoke with THR Monday about why the event was held, the fallout and what could happen next.

Why a Timothée Chalamet lookalike competition?

I just try to do public stunts, like performance art type stuff. I think it’s really funny, and I think right now a lot of creators aren’t really creating anything. They’re just sort of comment chains in a weird way. So me and Paige (his producer and assistant) sit around all day and all day and think about what would be fun? What would get people talking? Healthy, fun things that people can admire for free and tell their grandchildren about. And people always joke, I look like Timothée Chalamet. They call me “Less hot Timothée Chalamet”, so we wanted to organize a lookalike competition. And the original plan was for me to come in and we’d fake it. But as the project got bigger, we were like, “This is a little bigger than me,” so we wanted it to just be a fun, wholesome thing for the city.

It looks like there were hundreds of people there yesterday. Was this what you expected?

Legally, I should probably say no, but let’s just say I definitely have my finger on the pulse of the culture and am very confident in my ability to hang up 10 flyers and get 10,000 people to show up at a location.

Did you know the real Would Timothée show up?

We knew he knew because we had friends who were working on his new film. I would have bet a lot of money that he would not show up, because it is dangerous for Timothée Chalamet to attend a meeting with Timothée Chalamet lookalikes. It’s a shame. I really wanted him to compete, but it was so intense that of course he couldn’t.

And the police broke up the first event in Washington Square Park?

So what happened with the police, at first they were just trying to disperse the crowd. It was just a meeting, and we told law enforcement, “Look, we’re willing to cooperate. You have to let us handle this thing. And I think that’s because they were really enforcing the law, right? It’s their job to be bad at communicating and to shut people up. So yeah, I mean, we got fined $500. I’ll take this 10,000 times. I don’t think I’ll get a court summons, but if my team and I do, we’ll argue harder than them.

What is the fine for? You don’t have a license?

It says: “Holding an unauthorized costume contest.” It’s pathetic, but I’ll say it a million times. The entire event cost more than $4,000. So I’m going to get fined $500.

What was the cost?

Work. I had three APs. I brought one of the judges out and paid for food for everyone. Cameramen, the trophy itself cost $250. And we also had to place a rush order as it was a last minute deal.

It also seems that one of Timothée Chalamet’s look-alikes has been arrested?

There’s a person who was arrested, and I’m talking to him and I’m going to pay his legal fees and all that good stuff. A cop came up behind him and tried to get him out. The guy said to me, “Don’t touch me.” » And the cop said to me, “You have to leave. »

What did you think of the chaos?

The people who went there, they wanted chaos, they wanted it to be stupid and to see Timothy and have fun and talk about it with their friends. They weren’t looking for this beautifully put together show. I don’t think people want to go to an event like that that costs $40,000 to put on, and everyone has to pay $40. It’s too formal. It’s not as good a story.

I heard that there was also a dating component to the competition, where each Timothy Chalamet revealed whether or not they were single.

This was something we talked about before that would be really funny. My weird dream is that I want a couple to meet at this event and end up getting married. So we’ll see if that happens. I have to give it a few years

Have you done any other events like this then?

I didn’t do a lookalike contest. I ate a tub of cheese balls in front of 3,000 people and became like a New York superhero. I’m actually fighting a guy next month because another super villain showed up and challenged me. This is all very stupid.

When you say you’re struggling…

I box him. It’s a sanctioned boxing match in about two and a half weeks. Their name is Cornhead Killer.

Is this the most important thing you’ve done so far?

I would say it is the largest per capita. But I’ve definitely done bigger things in my career, like more journalistic stuff and bigger videos that reach more people. I infiltrated a cult once, and that probably has more longevity and more views than this will do for me.

Is the point of all this to make YouTube videos?

It depends. Cheeseball Man just got way cooler than what I presume was a YouTube video. So I held off revealing that it was me for about four months. And then people continued to make exposed videos. And it became a big thing, and people were commenting on every post I made, saying, “I know you are.” You are Anthony Po.” So I was honest. For this one, our plan is to release a video covering the entire event in the coming days. And, obviously, we have more than just the press, because we know how it started, the behind the scenes and why it became a thing. Again, we don’t even care if people watch it. We have already succeeded. We did our job. But obviously YouTube video needs to increase for us to make money.

Do you have any other types of events coming up?

There are a few planned and scheduled. But I want to make sure people don’t know it’s me, so it doesn’t lose its charm.

I also saw something circulating on social media about an upcoming Jeremy Allen White lookalike contest. Do you do this one too?

No, I’m not. I don’t like going back to the crime scene, if that makes sense. I feel like I usually host these events and then copycats show up and I let them be and move on. So I’m not behind that. I’m sure the parks department will try to contact me and send me a cease and desist notice, but I had nothing to do with that.