Before he was a movie star, Timothée Chalamet was an up-and-coming Xbox 360 controller modder

Though we can’t see his face, young Chalamet announces himself in the videos with a cursory “What’s good, YouTube?” before demonstrating his work. He also lets people know whether or not the controllers are available to buy (for, in one case, a reasonable $10 plus shipping and handling on top of the base controller price).

The date of the videos and Chalamet’s age match up, though the investigation needed firmer evidence before a conclusion could be drawn.

The article follows Vice’s attempts to perform forensic voice comparisons before settling on image comparisons instead. Matching details from one of Chalamet’s Instagram photos of himself as a kid with those from the ModdedController360 videos (a finger scar, chair pattern, floor and rug colors and placement) revealed “compelling” but not “definitive proof” that Chalamet was indeed the boy in the videos.

After publishing what they knew, Vice was sent a recent interview clip where Chalamet explains that he “had a YouTube channel people found” where he “used to paint-mod controllers.”

“It made 30 bucks,” he says while Zendaya laughs, sitting next to him, adding that his business ended prematurely because his parents were mad about the spray paint mess he made in the house.

To explore further documentary evidence, check out the Vice article. As of the time of writing, Chalamet does not appear to be taking any orders for $10 (plus shipping and handling) Xbox controller customizations. We will, of course, let people know if and when this changes.

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