Timothée Chalamet and Ansel Elgort, 22 and 23, respectively, are both having what their generational cohort might refer to as “#blessed” starts to their careers. Both native New Yorkers, the two actors were each nominated for a best-actor Golden Globe award this year, Chalamet for his turn as a lovesick teenager in Call Me by Your Name, and Elgort for his performance as the titular “Baby” in last summer’s Baby Driver. Chalamet is also widely predicted to get an Oscar nomination for his performance when the nods are announced January 23.

The two both attended LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, located near Lincoln Center—a school known as something of an incubator for standout artists in a variety of fields. (Jennifer Aniston, Nicki Minaj, and Sarah Paulson are among the notable alums.) In December, Elgort—a passionate New York Knicks fan—posted an Instagram from Madison Square Garden featuring himself and Chalamet courtside, with this caption: “Laguardia high school pride. It’s really crazy, Timmy and I played on the same basketball team, we had the same drama teacher Mr. Shifman, we had the same science teacher Mr.Singh, and then in the same year, both of us are nominated for a f$&king Golden Globe!!! Living the dream sitting courtside at the Knicks game together. Life is crazy.” (MTV recently asked both actors which of the two was more popular in high school, and they each answered with the other’s name.)

“Mr. Shifman” (first name: Harry) has been teaching drama at LaGuardia for 26 years. He refers to himself as a “generalist,” but explains that “mostly, [he is] a director”; he oversees the school-wide musical each year, for which anywhere from 350 to 500 students audition, with about 35 to 45 getting cast. (Elgort got his first role in the musical his freshman year.) Vanity Fair gave Shifman a call to discuss what Elgort and Chalamet were like as high-school students, why Chalamet almost didn’t get into the high school in the first place, and who he remembers as the most popular.

Vanity Fair: Do you remember when you first encountered Ansel, or what your first experience was getting to know him as an actor?

Harry Shifman: The first memory I have of Ansel, he was a freshman, but not in my class. I don’t typically teach the freshman acting class, [but] I was watching the scenes. He was doing a scene . . . I’m not positive, but I think it was from Spring Awakening—the play, not the musical. I was totally blown away by him. His partner was brilliant as well, but what really struck me was that he had this great look already. He was 14, but he looked like a man. He was startlingly authentic and believable. His work was very honest—no artifice. You didn’t see him acting, and I believed him. I was so taken with him that I grabbed him for my acting studio the next year.

He’s obviously had some tremendous film success since high school. How have you seen him evolve as an actor?

Well, I taught him his sophomore year. I’m a pretty challenging teacher; I try to keep the affections of the kids, but I’m fairly demanding. I think I drove Ansel a bit to break through and really receive the other actor. That’s, I think, the thing he needs. He always was able to evoke and charm; he’s very charismatic naturally. I think one of the things he needed to learn was to receive the other actor, which he did very quickly—to utilize the power and energy he was taking from the other person and let it affect him. By the time he was 15, he pretty much got the hang of that. I directed him in a couple of musicals junior and senior year. He did Link in Hairspray.