Timothee Chalamet actually loved his jarring bowl cut in 'The King': 'It was very freeing'

NEW YORK – Bowl cuts, like greatness, can be thrust upon you.

Take it from Timothee Chalamet, who was forced to shear his famously luscious locks to play young Henry V in Netflix's "The King" (in theaters Friday in New York and Los Angeles, expanding nationwide throughout October before streaming Nov. 1), a somber mashup of William Shakespeare's plays about the 15th-century English monarch.

"We put a breakfast bowl on his head and just went for it," jokes co-star Joel Edgerton, who co-wrote the film with director David Michod and worked the severe cut into the script, after researching paintings of the real-life Henry.

Seeing himself for the first time, "I was like, 'Does this really look that bad?'" Chalamet says with a grin, his mop of curls now blessedly restored. Eventually, "I realized what a burden I put on myself by having these window blinders, and it was very freeing."

"King" follows defiant prince Hal (Chalamet) as he reluctantly ascends the English throne after his father's death and becomes King Henry V. But his hopes for a peaceful reign are quickly dashed after a perceived threat from the sneering Dauphin of France (Robert Pattinson), and Henry makes the difficult decision to wage war as he second-guesses his subjects' loyalty, save for trusted adviser Sir John Falstaff (Edgerton).

Having played Henry on stage in his native Australia, Edgerton was eager to tell a version of Shakespeare's story that depicted the battles in all their "claustrophobic, dangerous, panicked" messiness, without losing the characters' emotional integrity. But the gritty retelling struggled to find financing for years because of its period setting, until Netflix came on board and helped lure Chalamet, 23, who earned a best actor Oscar nomination for his breakthrough role in gay romance "Call Me By Your Name."

"If we had made it (earlier), it wouldn't have been Timmy," says Edgerton, 45. "I would've had to drag him by his school bag out of eighth grade."

Before "King," Chalamet mostly starred in low-budget, awards-friendly fare such as "Lady Bird" and "Beautiful Boy," which made this film's epic scope daunting at first.

"Things that are scary are good, and this scared the (expletive) out of me," Chalamet says. But he was heartened by "David's faith in the project and that I could do it. The goal was never to match what Sir Laurence Olivier and Sir Kenneth Branagh did (in past 'Henry V' movies), but rather to get a searing portrait of a young man with good intent, (who faces) circumstances beyond what he can control or affect."

Prior to shooting in England and Hungary last year, Chalamet spent a month and a half training to sword-fight and ride horses while wearing hulking suits of armor and chainmail: "Not to get to a place of (butt)-kicking, but to a place of it being believable that I can hold my own in battles or duels," he says.

It was useful preparation for next year's ambitious sci-fi adventure "Dune," in which he plays prophetic young leader Paul Atreides. Adapted from Frank Herbert's 1965 novel, and directed by Denis Villeneuve ("Blade Runner 2049"), the big-budget remake offers a "grounded" take on the mind-bending source material, Chalamet teases, and marks his most commercial project yet as a leading man.

Chalamet, for his part, seems primed for Hollywood stardom, appearing next as heartthrob Laurie in Greta Gerwig's highly anticipated "Little Women" (in theaters Christmas Day). He savvily sidesteps questions about working with "King" co-star and rumored girlfriend Lily-Rose Depp, who plays a small but impactful role as Henry's betrothed Catherine of Valois. ("It was awesome and what great scenes," he says, expounding on her character's "fearless, righteous" nature.)

And with more fame comes less privacy, which the New York native has taken with humility and humor. He graciously brought bagels to the Manhattan premiere of "King" last week and handed them out to feverish fans, many of whom have pinpointed his favorite local bagel haunt, where they wait outside on a regular basis to snap selfies with him.

"I was just saying to my mom the other day that I need to scope out some new bagel places," Chalamet says. "Thankfully, New York is the best city in the world for that – it's not like looking for bagels in Paris."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Timothee Chalamet talks bad bowl cuts, bagels and Netflix's 'The King'