Timothée Chalamet wins Best Actor at the SAG Awards: ‘I want to be one of the greats’
Timothée Chalamet had a mic-drop moment at the SAG Awards on Sunday, singing his way to a Best Actor win for playing Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown.
Chalamet, who was in second place in the Gold Derby odds, beat Adrien Brody (The Brutalist), Daniel Craig (Queer), Colman Domingo (Sing Sing), and Ralph Fiennes (Conclave).
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"I know the classiest thing would be to downplay the effort that went into this role and how much this means to me," Chalamet said during his acceptance speech. "The truth is that this was five-and-a-half years of my life. I poured everything that I had into playing this incomparable artist, Mr. Bob Dylan — a true American hero. It was the honor of a lifetime to play him."
After thanking his costars, Chalamet proudly proclaimed, "I know we're in a subjective business, but the truth is, I'm 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 and Michael Phelps. I want to be up there. This [award] doesn't signify that, but it's a little more fuel to keep going."
Chalamet's win shakes up the Best Actor race ahead of the Academy Awards on March 2, but he's still considered an underdog. Brody prevailed at the Golden Globes, Critics Choice Awards, and BAFTAs — but if anyone knows that doesn't make you a sure bet, it's Brody. He won the Best Actor Oscar in 2003 for The Pianist despite losing all those same precursors to Daniel Day-Lewis (Gangs of New York) and Jack Nicholson (About Schmidt). Just a year before that, Russell Crowe swept all the precursors for A Beautiful Mind before ultimately losing the Oscar to Denzel Washington for Training Day.
This was Chalamet's first win after seven nominations at the SAG Awards. He was previously nominated for Best TV Drama Ensemble (Homeland) in 2013, Best Actor (Call Me by Your Name) in 2018, Best Ensemble (Ladybird) in 2018, Best Supporting Actor (Beautiful Boy) in 2019, Best Ensemble (Don't Look Up) in 2022, and Best Ensemble (A Complete Unknown) in 2025.
Chalamet was one of four SAG Awards nominees from A Complete Unknown, which is up for eight Oscars next month including Best Picture. He was joined by Monica Barbaro (Best Supporting Actress), who lost to Zoe Salda?a (Emilia Pérez), and Edward Norton (Best Supporting Actor), who lost to Kieran Culkin (A Real Pain). The cast was also up for Best Ensemble, but lost that prize to Conclave. According to Gold Derby's Oscar odds, Searchlight's A Complete Unknown will come up short in all eight of its races.
SAG, the final industry acting precursor, has aligned with the Oscars in Best Actor 24 times in the previous 30 years. It's mismatched only twice in the last 10 years. SAG chose Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom) and Washington (Fences), while the Oscars anointed Anthony Hopkins (The Father) and Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea), respectively. In both cases, the Oscar winner also claimed BAFTA — giving Brody the advantage this year.
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