Timothee Chalamet shared that he is aiming to be "one of the greats" while accepting his Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award for Best Actor in A Complete Unknown.
The 29-year-old star has been receiving a lot of acclaim and accolades for his performance as Bob Dylan in the James Mangold film. He is also nominated for Best Actor at the Academy Awards next week.
Timothee Chalamet Wins SAG Award for Best Actor
Chalamet was surprised when his name was called as the winner of Best Actor at last night's 31st SAG Awards.
He prevailed over his fellow nominees such as Daniel Craig, Colman Domingo, Ralph Fiennes, and Adrien Brody, who was considered to be the frontrunner in the category.
His victory was also historic since he is now the youngest Best Actor winner in SAG Awards history at 29 years old.
In his impromptu awards speech, Chalamet thanked his mother, who he brought as his date for the ceremony, and his co-stars in A Complete Unknown. He went on to highlight the work and effort that he went through in preparation for playing Bob Dylan.
"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," Chalamet said.
"I poured everything I had into playing this incomparable artist, Mr. Bob Dylan, a true American hero. It was the honor of a lifetime playing him."
Chalamet concluded his speech by declaring that he aspires to be "one of the greats" alongside actors that he admires such as Daniel Day-Lewis, Marlon Brando, and Viola Davis.
"I know we’re in a subjective business, but I’m really in pursuit of greatness. People don’t usually talk like this, but I want to be one of the greats. I’m inspired by the greats. I’m inspired by the greats here tonight," he continued.
"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. So I’m deeply grateful for that. This doesn’t signify that, but it’s a little more ammo, a little more fuel to keep going. Thank you so much."
Is Timothee Chalamet Favored to Win the Oscar?
With his surprise SAG Award win, Chalamet has solidified himself as one of the heavy favorites to win Best Actor at the Academy Awards next week.
In the last ten years, eight of the SAG Award Best Actor winners also went on to win the Oscar. The last mismatch was four years ago when Chadwick Boseman won SAG and Anthony Hopkins ended up prevailing at the Oscars.
According to the recent odds from GoldDerby, Adrien Brody is still the top favorite to win Best Actor with 7/4 odds thanks to his wins at the Golden Globes, Critics' Choice, and BAFTA Awards.
However, now that Chalamet has a SAG Award on his sleeve, the Best Actor race is now more competitive and it will be a coss toin between Brody and Chalamet come Oscar night.
What did you think of Chalamet's speech? Let us know in the comments!
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