It’s easy to forget Timothée Chalamet is 29 years old. He has the youthful energy of someone in their early 20s, but the filmography of an established middle-aged actor. He’s already starred in seven Best Picture nominees — and one more that should have been — and his films have grossed over $3 billion at the worldwide box office. But, if forced to pick between critical acclaim or commercial success, I get the sense that Timmy cares more about the former.
Over the weekend, Chalamet won Outstanding Lead Actor In A Motion Picture at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, the youngest actor ever to do so. It was his first major award for playing Bob Dylan in the biopic A Complete Unknown, and his viral acceptance speech served as a warm-up for a potential Oscar victory this Sunday — and a telling glimpse at his future goals.
Here’s the crucial part:
“I can’t downplay the significance of this award, because it means the most to me. And I know we’re in a subjective business, but the truth is, I’m really in pursuit of greatness. I know people don’t usually talk like that, but I want to be one of the greats. I’m inspired by the greats. I’m inspired by the greats here tonight. I’m as inspired by Daniel Day-Lewis, Marlon Brando, and Viola Davis as I am by Michael Jordan, Michael Phelps, and I want to be up there. So, I’m deeply grateful to that. This doesn’t signify that, but it’s a little more fuel. It’s a little more ammo to keep going. Thank you so much.”
Actors don’t typically give award show speeches like this one. They’re supposed to be humble and read from a PR-approved script. Chalamet does genuinely appreciate the hard work of his A Complete Unknown co-stars (“It’s an honor I share with Monica [Barbaro], Elle [Fanning], Edward [Norton], the entire cast, who, in a genre doing a biopic that could be perhaps tired, everyone gave it their all,” he said earlier in the speech), but the sports-loving New York Knicks fan in him came out, too.
Chalamet is in a competition with his fellow nominees, but more importantly, he’s in a competition with himself to be, as he put it, “one of the greats.”
Whether they like to admit it or not, actors crave recognition; otherwise, they’re pretending to be someone they’re not in a pitch-black room to no one. (If an actor goes method and no one is around to applaud their dedication, do they make a sound?) Chalamet laid bare this hushed truth at the SAG Awards. Is that such a bad thing? If you go to a fancy restaurant, don’t you want the chef to make a meal they consider to be great, not a half-assed effort? Chalamet put in the work, not only in A Complete Unknown but also Dune: Part Two, and he’s stoked to be recognized by his peers. It was a rare (and weirdly controversial) moment of honesty in an exhausting awards season.
Let’s say Chalamet wins Best Actor at the Oscars. He probably won’t (The Brutalist‘s Adrien Brody is the frontrunner), but crazier things have happened — like the annoying jerk from Homeland becoming one of the finest actors of his generation. In this timeline, Chalamet gives his speech, he takes a million selfies, he goes home with Kylie Jenner, and he focuses on his next role. If he doesn’t win, he graciously applauds for Brody or Colman Domingo or Ralph Fiennes or Sebastian Stan (good group!), he takes a million selfies, he goes home with Kylie Jenner, and he focuses on his next role.
Chalamet wants the Oscar, more than most actors are willing to acknowledge, but he also knows that a win doesn’t mean he’s reached the peak. There’s more work to be done. Daniel Day-Lewis got his first Oscar for 1989’s My Left Foot — and his third for 2012’s Lincoln. Michael Jordan won his first NBA championship in 1991 — and his sixth in 1998. In the years between, they kept trying to improve on their greatness (Day-Lewis’ finest performance is arguably his final one to date, in Phantom Thread). This isn’t a grind mindset. It’s Chalamet caring about his legacy. He wants to someday be thought of in the same class of world-class actors as Viola Davis and Marlon Brando.
Chalamet has resisted the easy temptation of joining an existing franchise. Instead, he’s been at the beginnings of new ones with Dune and Wonka (I was as skeptical as everyone else about the Willy Wonka prequel — even typing those words sent a chill down my spine — but he won me over through sheer charisma). He’s taken his Don’t Look Up co-star Leonardo DiCaprio’s advice: “No hard drugs and no superhero movies.” Chalamet is part of a still rare, but refreshingly expanding group of young actors (Glen Powell, Margaret Qualley, etc.) who would rather balance character-first indies and ambitious blockbusters than be locked into the Marvel Cinematic Universe for a decade. Chalamet can’t be great unless he challenges himself, so he’ll star in both cannibal romances and big-budget sandworm epics. He’ll also use his talent, determination, and celebrity status for good: A Complete Unknown, the type of mid-budget film for adults that might have been sent to streaming without his involvement, made over $100 million at the box office.
Timothée Chalamet wants to be great. That makes him a winner in my book, with or without an Oscar.
