Timothée Chalamet became the youngest person to win Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role at the SAG Awards on Sunday February 23, 2015. The 29-year-old actor was celebrated by his peers during the annual awards ceremony for portraying Bob Dylan in the film A Complete Unknown.
The SAG Award represents the first big industry award of Chalamet’s career.
Chalamet was nominated alongside Adrien Brody (The Brutalist), Daniel Craig (Queer), Colman Domingo (Sing Sing) and Ralph Fiennes (Conclave). He has been previously nominated for two SAG Awards recognizing his individual performance, and for cast recognition three times.
Although Chalamet’s performance was widely celebrated, Brody has bested Chalamet by winning every other major award so far this season. The Golden Globe, BAFTA and Critics Choice Award — all of which Chalamet was also nominated for — went to Brody and he is still widely expected to take home the Oscar next week. But Chalamet’s victory on Sunday night, given that the SAG Award is voted on by actors, could be indicative of the Oscar going to him instead. The acting branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is the largest voting bloc of the Oscars. Both Chalamet and Brody are nominated for the Oscar for Best Actor. Domingo, Fiennes, and Sebastian Stan (The Apprentice), who wasn’t nominated for a SAG, are also nominated in the Oscar category.
If he wins the Oscar, Chalamet will also become the youngest to take the lead actor trophy. Brody, who won for The Pianist back in 2003 just weeks shy of his 30th birthday, currently holds that title.
Upon receiving the SAG Award, Chalamet thanked his mother, who joined him at the ceremony, and Dylan himself. “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 acknowledged during his speech. “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.”
He continued, “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. 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 to that. This [award] doesn’t signify that, but it’s a little more ammo, a little more fuel to keep going. Thank you so much.”
Following the SAG Awards, Chalamet took to Instagram to celebrate his victory, posting a series of photos along with the caption, “YEOOOOOOO I WON I CANT BELIEVE IT !!!!!!! THANK YOU TO MY PEERS FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART !!!!!!! ALL THE MEMBERS OF THE SCREEN ACTORS GUILD !!! GUNNA CELEBRATE TONIGHT THANK U THANK U THANK U !!!!!!!”
Chalamet put a considerable amount of effort into playing Dylan in James Mangold’s biopic A Complete Unknown. Dylan himself praised the film and the performance, writing on X, “Timmy’s a brilliant actor so I’m sure he’s going to be completely believable as me. Or a younger me. Or some other me.”
