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While at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, I saw one film that absolutely floored me in every possible way and is still my number one film of the year: director Luca Guadagnino’s Call Me by Your Name. Featuring a fantastic screenplay by Guadagnino and James Ivory, powerful performances from the entire cast, amazing cinematography by Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, and brilliance from every other department, Call Me by Your Name is one of those rare films where everything is just perfect and you walk out of the theater remembering why you love movies.

If you haven’t heard of the film, based on the novel by André Aciman, the coming-of-age drama stars Timothée Chalamet (Interstellar) as a precocious 17-year-old American-Italian boy who’s on summer vacation with his family at their Italian villa. When a charming American scholar (Armie Hammer) comes to work with the boy’s father (Michael Stuhlbarg), a summer romance sparks that awakens feelings of first love, brilliantly and sensually captured by Guadagnino. Trust me when I say you need to see this film which opens in New York and Los Angeles this weekend. For more on read Adam Chitwood’s glowing review or watch the first trailer.

Just a few days ago in Los Angeles I sat down with Timothée Chalamet for an exclusive video interview. He talked about when he first realized they were making something so special, the way he likes to work, if he’s able to leave the character he’s playing on set or if some of it comes home with him, what it was like working with Luca Guadagnino, how he prepped to play this role, why he doesn’t like to go all out in rehearsals, his favorite deleted scenes, and more. In addition, he talked about his next movie, director Felix van Groeningen’s Beautiful Boy with Steve Carell where Chalamet plays a meth addict.

Check out what Timothee Chalamet had to say in the player above and below is exactly what we talked about and the official synopsis.

Timothee Chalamet:

• When did he realize they were making something special?
• Did he take his character home at night with him or is he able to leave the character on set each day?
• Talks about the pre-production process and the making of Beautiful Boy.
• How does he like to work on set and how did it compare to the way Luca Guadagnino likes to work?
• Why he doesn’t go full force while in a rehearsal when making a film.
• What it was like making Beautiful Boy with Felix van Groeningen.
• Shares a funny story he heard featuring Dustin Hoffman and Robert De Niro.
• What was he nervous to film before filming began?
• How he prepped for a month and a half to play the piano on screen.
• Talks about filming a key kissing scene towards the end of the film.
• Is there a deleted scene or two that he was sad to see not make the final cut?

Here’s the official synopsis for Call Me By Your Name:

Call Me By Your Name, the new film by Luca Guadagnino, is a sensual and transcendent tale of first love, based on the acclaimed novel by André Aciman. It’s the summer of 1983 in the north of Italy, and Elio Perlman (Timothée Chalamet), a precocious 17- year-old American-Italian boy, spends his days in his family’s 17th century villa transcribing and playing classical music, reading, and flirting with his friend Marzia (Esther Garrel). Elio enjoys a close relationship with his father (Michael Stuhlbarg), an eminent professor specializing in Greco-Roman culture, and his mother Annella (Amira Casar), a translator, who favor him with the fruits of high culture in a setting that overflows with natural delights. While Elio’s sophistication and intellectual gifts suggest he is already a fully-fledged adult, there is much that yet remains innocent and unformed about him, particularly about matters of the heart. One day, Oliver (Armie Hammer), a charming American scholar working on his doctorate, arrives as the annual summer intern tasked with helping Elio’s father. Amid the sun-drenched splendor of the setting, Elio and Oliver discover the heady beauty of awakening desire over the course of a summer that will alter their lives forever.