Timothée Chalamet Lays His Cards On The Table Following ‘A Complete Unknown’ SAG Award Win: “I Want To Be One Of The Greats”

Timothée Chalamet has talked in the recent past about the humiliation of preparing awards show speeches, only to have to rip up one after another. But tonight, he walked away with a trophy, taking Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role for his turn as Bob Dylan in Searchlight’s A Complete Unknown.

“Thank you. I was not expecting this at all, truly,” Chalamet said in his speech. “I’ll start by thanking my mother, who I’m here with tonight. She’s been working at Actors’ Equity for 40 years.”

Chalamet went on to acknowledge that “the classiest thing would be to downplay the effort that went into this role and how much this means to me.” Still, he said, “the truth is, this was five and a half years of my life. I poured everything I had into portraying this incomparable artist, Mr. Bob Dylan, a true American hero, and it was the honor of a lifetime playing him.”

The honor, he said, is one he shares with his cast, including the likes of Elle Fanning, Monica Barbaro, and Edward Norton. Chalamet noted that in working on a music biopic, it would be all too easy to fall into the trap of creating something “tired.” But this team “gave it their all,” he continued, “so I’m deeply grateful to them.”

“Lastly,” Chalamet said, “I can’t downplay the significance of this award because it means the most to me. I know we’re in a subjective business, but the truth is, I’m really in pursuit of greatness.”

The actor acknowledged that “people don’t usually talk like that,” but had to admit, “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 and Michael Phelps, and I want to be up there.”

To Chalamet, “this [award] doesn’t signify that, but it’s a little more fuel, a little more ammo to keep going.”

A seven-time SAG Award nominee at the age of 29, Chalamet’s win tonight was his first at the ceremony. His competition for the Lead Actor prize included Adrien Brody (The Brutalist), Daniel Craig (Queer), Colman Domingo (Sing Sing), and Ralph Fiennes (Conclave).