Timothee Chalamet's mother has denied rumours that her son took ballet classes when he was younger.

The 30-year-old actor sparked fury earlier this year when he claimed that "no one cares about" ballet or opera, prompting the Library for the Performing Arts to share a clip on Instagram of the Dune star as a six-year-old in a ballet production of Romeo and Juliet, although his mother Nicole Flender has revealed that it was Timothee's sister Pauline Chalamet who attended dance classes instead.

Flender - herself a former ballerina - told People: "Timmy didn't take ballet classes. My daughter did.

"Timmy did his own dancing. You know, he was a rap artist at high school so he did his own thing."

Chalamet made his disparaging remarks about ballet and opera during a Variety and CNN town hall alongside fellow actor Matthew McConaughey in February.

The Marty Supreme star remarked during the panel: "I don't want to be working in ballet, or opera, or things where it's like, 'Hey, keep this thing alive, even though like no one cares about this anymore.' All respect to the ballet and opera people out there."

Timothee did seem to realise that his comments wouldn't be well-received.

He said: "I just lost 14 cents in viewership. I just took shots for no reason."

Despite his comments, Chalamet recalled how he grew up "backstage at the New York City Ballet" as he promoted Marty Supreme earlier this year.

The four-time Oscar nominee said: "My grandmother danced in the New York City Ballet, my mother danced in the New York City Ballet, my sister danced in the New York City Ballet.

"I grew up dreaming big backstage at the Koch Theater in New York."

Chalamet's comments sparked an angry backlash in Hollywood, with Charlize Theron recently branding the remarks as "reckless".

During an interview with The New York Times newspaper, the Apex actress noted: "Dance is probably one of the hardest things I ever did. Dancers are superheroes. What they put their bodies through in complete silence."

Her interviewer then joked "Sorry, Timothee Chalamet", prompting the 50-year-old actress' tirade.

She ranted: "Oh, boy, I hope I run into him one day. I feel like that was a very reckless comment on an art form, two art forms, that we need to lift up constantly because, yes, they do have a hard time.

"But in about 10 years, I think AI is going to be able to do Timothee's job, but it will not be able to replace a person on a stage dancing live. And we shouldn't s*** on other art forms. How about we start with that?"