Timothée Chalamet Thanks ‘SNL’ For Letting Him Pull Double Duty: Either “Really Nice” Or A “Big Prank”
It may be Timothée Chalamet’s third time hosting Saturday Night Live, but it’s the two-time Oscar nominee’s first stint as a musical guest.
“This is a historic episode because it’s the first time an actor has also been a musical guest of Saturday Night Live, and if you’re wondering if that’s true, it’s not,” he began during his opening monologue. “That’s a distinction I share with the great Gary Busey.” (This is true, by the way; it was a March 1979 episode.)
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And in case you were hoping for a reprisal of Timmy Tim, don’t get your hopes up. The double duty-pulling host confirmed that he would be performing songs by Bob Dylan, in tribute to his performance in the newly minted Academy Award-nominated biopic, which garnered eight nods.
Comparing his latest musical role with another one — in 2023’s Wonka — Chalamet joked, “I actually discovered that the two men have a lot in common: They’re both eccentric, they’re both innovators and they both captured and enslaved hundreds of Oompa Loompas.”
On those Oscar nominations, which led Chalamet to become the youngest two-time Best Actor nominee since James Dean, the Dune: Part Two star said, “It’s an enormous honor going to these awards shows, it’s such a great experience, but I just keep losing. And each time it gets a bit harder to pretend it doesn’t sting.” (A commonality he shares with previous co-star and friend Saoirse Ronan.)
The sketch show then played a highlight reel of the actor’s reactions at various ceremonies, in which he lost to Mahershala Ali and Gary Oldman on two occasions, respectively, with each subsequent appearance yielding a more somber and deadpan reaction.
“Man, just another lonely night with my Dune popcorn pocket,” Chalamet quipped with a NSFW joke.
And when Chalamet tried to reclaim his thunder by using his monologue as an opportunity to read out the speech he’s never had a chance to give on stage, he was usurped by Kenan Thompson. In a close-up of Chalamet’s reaction, the actor didn’t break once, giving a truly award-worthy “if looks could kill” glare.
In concluding his monologue, Chalamet thanked the Lorne Michaels-helmed show for letting him perform as Dylan: “I’m so grateful Saturday Night Live is still doing weird stuff like this, 50 years in. They’re either really nice for letting me do this, or incredibly mean, and this is all a big prank. I sincerely can’t tell. We’ll find out.”
View the monologue above.
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