Twitter Thought Timothée Chalamet Was About to Give ‘Seinfeld’ the ‘Young Sheldon’ Treatment

Thankfully, cinema super star Timothée Chalamet has not been monstrously miscast in a second role as a real-life Jewish-American entertainment icon who looks nothing like him — he’s still just playing Bob Dylan.

Right now, Chalamet is working on the James Mangold-directed Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown in Paterson, New Jersey alongside The Great star Elle Fanning. And, as is the case anytime Chalamet steps outside in an interesting outfit next to a popular actress, set pics from the filming of the project have attracted significant attention online. One particular picture showing Chalamet and Fanning on a busy sidewalk wearing charmingly vintage outfits inspired a clever and sinister Seinfeld fan to give gullible Twitter users a heart attack by suggesting that Chalamet’s next project may be headed by Chuck Lorre.

On Tuesday, Twitter user Maia Mindel started the rumor that the Dune star was actually on the set of a prequel series to Seinfeld titled Young Jerry, presumably in the style of The Big Bang Theory’s soon-to-be-completed spin-off Young Sheldon. A shockingly significant number of people thought the joke was real — dare I say, bazinga?

“in what world is timothee chalamet the right casting choice for jerry seinfeld?” one Seinfeld fan tweeted, perhaps echoing the sentiments of several Dylan stans who don’t think the omnipresent actor is fit for the role of the folk legend. A more melodramatic fan responded to the fake announcement with, “This is a modern day 9/11.”

It certainly says something about the staying power of Seinfeld fashion that the outfits Fanning and Chalamet wore in the offending set picture reminded so many impressionable Twitter users of the hit sitcom, even outside the intended decades. Chalamet’s jacket may not look like suede, but it’s easy to imagine a twenty-something Jerry spending too much money on it, only to immediately ruin it in the snow. Fanning’s fit looks decidedly Elaine-like as well, even if Fanning herself doesn’t — maybe she could be a Becky Gelke early on in Jerry’s fascination with his neighbor.

Nevertheless, Chalamet will not play a young Jerry any time soon to the relief of many duped Seinfeld superfans. “pls don’t give them any ideas,” one Twitter user begged Mindel, while another pondered, “It will be interesting to see who they get to play Shoshanna Lonstein and at what age range (between -2 and 8 years old).”