Bates Motel puts a modern twist on Alfred Hitchcock's iconic thriller, Psycho. The series follows the early years of Norman Bates and his mother Norma before he becomes the slasher viewers know so well. Freddie Highmore portrayed Norman Bates in the series, but an interview with Timothée Chalamet revealed that he also auditioned for the role of Norman. However, the audition didn't go quite as planned due to him portraying the wrong "psycho."
In the 2017 interview, Chalamet recounted one of his worst auditions while promoting his film, Call Me By Your Name. He described being 14 or 15 and trying for the role of Bates Motel's Norman Bates. Knowing he'd be playing a "young Psycho," he tried researching Anthony Perkins' famous role stating, "...And I went to Netflix, and the first thing that came up for “psycho” was American Psycho..." Without realizing it, he auditioned for the character of Patrick Bateman, which is an entirely different representation of a serial killer when compared to Norman Bates. Chalamet closed his answer by saying, "So there’s an audition for Bates Motel somewhere that’s a Patrick Bateman impression that’s way off tonally."
There's a degree of humor in how different both Bates and Bateman are, but it also showcases how no two film serial killers are alike. For example, to portray a character like Bateman, the role demands high volumes of narcissism and materialism. Bateman suffers a mental breakdown because his affluent lifestyle immensely bores him. This leads him on a sadistic rampage where he tries to find meaning to life through death that ultimately lands him right where he started, confused and overlooked by the other narcissists in his social circle. To properly convey this, Chalamet probably acted quite unpredictable and high energy, both traits that Norman doesn't have.
Both Perkins and Highmore's portrayal of Norman is more in line with the character created by Psycho writer Robert Bloch. In the film, Norman is a timid young man who has the best manners and speaks highly of his mother. Highmore also portrays this and adds an extra overprotective aspect to his personality when making sure he and Mother are never torn apart.
Following Norma's death, Norman suffers a full mental break. His timid mindset gives way to the murderous Norma/Mother personality, where she kills anyone that dares separate the mother and son. Bates Motel doubles down on this even more than the film by showing how close he and Norma are throughout the series, making his psychotic break both tragic and carefully set up. Ultimately, the role demands a character hiding something dangerous under the surface, and no one knows when it will inevitably come up.
While Highmore's portrayal of Norman will go down as one of the best versions of the character since Perkins, it's reassuring to hear Chalamet's hilarious story about his botched audition. It shows that even actors with big projects or followings attached to them can make mistakes like everyone else. However, it also teaches a lesson that even after a bad audition, the chances for success never go away, and anyone's big break could be right around the corner.