Timothée Chalamet has described his unsuccessful audition for the lead role in the 2018 crime drama *White Boy Rick* as a brutal experience. Although he prepared intensely, he said he realised almost immediately that the part was not right for him, and the rejection affected him deeply.

Chalamet auditioned aged 21 to play Richard Wershe Jr, a teenage FBI informant who later became a drug trafficker in 1980s Detroit. The role went instead to first-time actor Richie Merritt, whose Detroit background helped him secure it; the film received mixed reviews and earned about $26 million worldwide against a $29 million budget.