Sam Nivola says Hollywood’s embrace of plastic surgery has led to a dearth of opportunities for up-and-coming actors of his generation.
The “White Lotus” actor made the eyebrow-raising claim in a new interview with Variety published Thursday. In it, he expressed his admiration for Tom Cruise while suggesting that cosmetic procedures have made it more challenging for younger actors to ever reach Cruise’s stature in the current entertainment landscape.
“The old movie stars are getting plastic surgery, and they’re looking younger and they’re staying young. You have these really old people playing young roles,” he told the outlet. “And it’s not giving any space for the young’uns to move in and make a name for themselves. With all due respect to those people, one day they won’t be here anymore, literally, and they will have to create new stars.”
When asked to name a contemporary actor whose work he admired, Nivola pointed to Timothée Chalamet, who he described as “one of the best actors alive” and a “total star.” Still, he clarified that he viewed Chalamet as “a different kind of movie star,” partly because he’s “not huge and jacked.”
Nivola, 21, rose to prominence on the third season of “The White Lotus,” in which he portrayed Lochlan Ratliff.
His role on the smash HBO series, he said, has resulted in numerous offers to play similar characters or, as he put it, “socially awkward, virginal kids who are a little weird.”
“I’m starting to feel a little boxed in by the characters I’ve played in my career,” he said. “But I’m also finally getting offers to do things where I’m a little more grown up. Hopefully the next one will be something a little different.”
Though Nivola is hardly the first celebrity to speak out against cosmetic surgery, his remarks drew a heated response on social media, with some suggesting his stance was indicative of the ageist mentality that may be driving actors to seek out such procedures in the first place.
“Those people will not be there one day, true. But you will also never be like those people,” one person wrote on X.
Added another: “I liked him better when he didn’t speak.”
Others pointed out that Nivola’s parents are actors Emily Mortimer and Alessandro Nivola and, because of that family connection, he may have an easier time being considered for film and TV projects than some of his peers.
Elsewhere in his Variety chat, Nivola addressed the so-called “nepo baby” implication head on, noting, “Other than my genes, I don’t think I can attribute much of my success to my parents.”
“I feel proud that I’ve done it for myself, and sometimes in spite of them,” he said. “I didn’t get my dad’s agent to call up so-and-so. I did it by myself. I didn’t want to give anyone an excuse to be able to say that anything I’ve achieved has been because of anyone other than me. And I’m proud of that.”
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