Timothée Chalamet makes history with SAG Awards win: “I want to be one of the greats”
At the recent Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards, Timothée Chalamet took home the ‘Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role’ award for his impressive performance as Bob Dylan in James Mangold’s A Complete Unknown.
The biopic required Chalamet to play the folk icon during the early years of his career when he rose from ambitious young artist to worldwide sensation—eventually causing controversy with his decision to use electric instruments.
Since its release, A Complete Unknown has received lots of praise and earned various Oscar nominations, including ‘Best Actor’ for Chalamet. While he recently lost out on a Bafta, Chalamet beat competition in the form of Daniel Craig, Adrien Brody, Ralph Fiennes, and Colman Domingo to win a SAG Award. He has made SAG history, becoming the youngest star to win the prize at the age of 29.
During his speech, Chalamet revealed that he wanted to become “one of the greats” he began by saying, “Thank you. I was not expecting this at all, truly.”
The actor then discussed how long it took him to prepare for the role: “I know the classiest thing would be to downplay the effort that went into this role and how much this means to me, but the truth is this was five and a half years of my life.”
He continued, “I poured everything I had into playing this incomparable artist. Mr Bob Dylan. A true American hero. It was the honour of a lifetime playing him.”
The actor then explained how much he would love to be held in the same esteem as some of Hollywood’s greatest stars. “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 and Michael Phelps. And I wanna be up there. I’m deeply grateful for that. This doesn’t signify that but it’s a little more fuel, a little more ammo to keep going,” he continued.
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