If you caught Superman in cinemas this weekend, you may have been surprised to see Timothée Chalamet holding a giant mangelwurzel and making a case for modern banking. Today, Cash App announced Chalamet as the platform’s newest collaborator, marking the Academy Award-nominated actor’s first-ever partnership with a financial services platform. In his first ad for Cash App, he trades sandworms and chocolate for salt blocks and iron ingots, playing an accidental financial mediator in a rare produce store that accepts ancient currencies.
Chalamet’s new Cash App campaign is a departure from the actor’s usual roles, and it arrives just ahead of his return to the big screens in Marty Supreme and Dune: Part Three. Directed by Aidan Zamiri and written by Elijah Bynum – Chalamet’s frequent collaborators – the two-minute ad unfolds like a dream sequence, bridging generational attitudes towards money as Chalamet observes a father and son (Izaac Wang) debating outdated forms of payment. “We wanted to give Timothée a platform to encourage open conversations around money across age groups in a way that felt fresh and authentic to who he is as an artist,” says Catherine Ferdon, chief marketing officer at Cash App.
You can catch Chalamet’s new collaboration with Cash App on screens of every size across the country, out of home across New York and Los Angeles, social media and, in the coming months, even on a limited edition Cash App Card stamp, designed with Chalamet. He brings to the role with his typical charisma and quiet intensity, yet the message is clear: using modern financial tools doesn’t mean abandoning your values. As the commercial’s generational gap narrows – over a root vegetable, no less – it’s Chalamet who becomes the bridge. “Financial literacy across all age groups is important,” Chalamet says.
Watch the full video and keep an eye out: it’s airing in cinemas across the US before Superman and Fantastic Four: First Steps.