A Timothée Chalamet lookalike has been mistaken for the star by his gran and his mum while a dating site removed him for “impersonating” the actor

A doppelganger for Dune actor Timothée Chalamet whose own grandmother ‘liked’ the actor’s pictures mistaking him for her grandson was even removed from a dating site for “impersonating” the heart-throb because they look so alike.

Model Nicolas Hal Nercolini, 26, first realised his likeness to the Hollywood A-lister when his love of French cinema led to him discovering actor Louis Garrel and his sister Esther, who starred alongside Chalamet in Call Me by Your Name in 2017.

But with sci-fi epic Dune, starring Chalamet as space prince Paul Atreides, being nominated for 11 BAFTAs and 10 Oscars, as the actor’s profile rises so does his.

Nicolas, who is single, of Curitiba, Brazil, said: “A Japanese account on Twitter used one of my pictures as their avatar thinking it was Timothée!

“I had to let them know it was me.

“I was also reported on a dating site for impersonating someone else to get more views, because I look like Timothée.  But it was all my information and pictures!”

Even Nicolas’ grandmother, Edyr, could not tell the difference between him and the star and started liking Chalamet’s pictures before she passed away in 2019, aged 87.

Nicolas said: “My grandma was always liking Timothée’s photos and saying, ‘Oh, you look so handsome.’ I had to tell her that it wasn’t me.”

His uncanny resemblance to the star even muddled Nicolas’ social worker mum, Denise, 59.

He said:  “She usually confuses our pictures and said I should set up an Instagram to let other people see me and how alike we are.

“So, I did in Jan 2022 and it escalated really quickly. I now have 829 followers and it is growing”.

Looking like someone famous has not  always been an advantage for Nicolas, who says one girlfriend did not want them to split up simply because of his likeness to Chalamet.

He said: “She would brag to her co-workers that she dated someone who looked really like Timothée and we weren’t working well as a couple at all.

“She did not seem to see me for who I was – Nic. I was just a lookalike.”

Yet, the advantage of his similarity to the star is not lost on Nicolas, who sometimes uses make-up to enhance his features, which has lead to him gaining more Instagram followers.

He said: “I followed a lot of Timothée Chalamet fans on Instagram and made a lot of connections and friendships. They engage with me a lot, which helped my following to increase.

“I am not completely sure how big a role looking like Timothée played in me becoming a model in January 2022, but some agents have said that if I went to any castings I should say that I look like him.

“I also had a lookalike agency from the UK reach out to me. this month. We were talking and reached out to an agency from the US as well.”

He added: “The second agency asked me if I could join them for their next casting in New York, which does not have a date yet, to meet some more lookalikes.”

A serious attack of Covid in  May 2021, which, being asthmatic, saw Nicolas lose 22 kilos, had an unlikely positive as it accentuated his chiselled looks and made him look even more like Chalamet.

He said: “I was very ill and felt like I was suffocating if I ate, which was horrible.”

He added: “But another shock came when I realised I looked even more like Timothée.”

He also uses cleverly applied make-up to accentuate certain features to enhance his likeness to the star.

He said: “Timothée has really sharp features, so I contour and highlight certain parts of my face.”

He added: “I use an eyebrow pencil to extend the eyebrow tail.

“Also, while my hair is already wavy, I started curling it to make the my curls more defined like his.”

And their similarities are not restricted to their appearance, according to Nicolas.

He said: “We were born in the same year. I was born on July 29 and he was born on December 27.

“I’m a Capricorn rising and he’s a Capricorn sun.

“We have the same music tastes. A lot of his favourite artists are mine as well like Cardi B and The Weeknd.”

He added: “My family on both sides are Italian immigrants and my mum’s side has a bit of Austrian descent as well. Timothée’s mum is also of Austrian descent.

“I was even nearly born in New York like Chalamet, as my mum was on vacation there around the time she was expecting me, but gave birth in Brazil instead as she was more familiar with the healthcare system.”

Nicolas also tracks the star’s fashion choices using Instagram account @readytimmywear so he can dress in the same sort of style.

He said: “I have a few jewellery pieces like those he has worn at premieres.

“They are fakes, not real Cartiers or the suchlike, but they are statement pieces that I usually wear when I leave the house.

“I got some sneakers like some he wore, too, because they were so cool.”

He added: “I had a coat from Zara that my grandma bought me a long time ago which was really similar to one he wore for the ceremonial part of Dune, too – the really long coat with that kind of military style.”

And when he teamed the coat with ankle high boots like those the star wore as Paul Atreides to watch the movie in Brazil, he caught the attention of a group of American fans.

He said: “There was a small group of American guys who were there for the movie. I think they were visiting Brazil.”

He added: “When the film finished, they kept staring at me, clearly wondering if I was Timothée or not?”

While his striking features now work in his favour, Nicolas says that has not always been the case.

He said: “Growing up, people picked on my appearance a lot, as I didn’t look like anyone from here.”

He added: “I didn’t really look like my parents. I looked more like my grandfather from my dad’s side who passed away before I was born.

“I was picked on because I was too pale, as Brazil is known for people with a sunkissed complexion.

“People were really mean about me having freckles, too.”

He added: “I always thought that I was weird and everyone else was better looking than me, so that really pushed my self-esteem down a lot.”

Nicolas admits it came as a shock when he realised he looked like someone who is seen as a heart-throb.

He said: “When I came across Timothée Chalamet, I thought, ‘I’m not that odd looking if people like him.'”

He added: “Before he starred in Call Me by Your Name, Timothée was worried that he would never be cast in anything because he was too skinny, clumsy and not the ideal Hollywood star, too, which really helped me.

“Timothée really saved my life in many ways, especially in terms of how I looked.

“And seeing him in so many incredible movies like Dune has given me the confidence to go after my dreams.”

Now attending acting classes, as well as trying to make his mark in the modelling world, Nicolas is aiming for a bright future and hopes that if his famous lookalike ever hears about him, he will not be “freaked out” by their similarity.

He said: “I want him to have the same reaction as me and to think, ‘Wow! There’s someone out there that looks like me!’

“It’s kind of weird,  but fun as well.”

He added: “There’s a theory that there’s always someone who looks like you in the world.

“Most of the time you don’t get to meet them, but at least I get to see the man who looks like me!”

To follow Nicolas’ Instagram go to: www.instagram.com/tchal.lookalike