By: Eleni Dimitrakos | Staff Writer
At last month’s 31st Annual SAG Awards, Timothée Chalamet won for his incredible performance as Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown. Considering that his win followed the night he hosted SNL where he joked about always being nominated but never winning an award (very “always a bridesmaid never a bride”), it made me overjoyed that he was finally able to overcome this pattern. Or so we thought.
It appears most actors, artists, and even movie executives tend to remain relatively modest when accepting their awards. In their acceptance speeches, they typically say something along the lines of “I absolutely can’t believe it, this means so much to me” or “Everyone who was nominated is so remarkably talented, I just wanted to shout them out,” and they proceed to thank the plethora of people in their lives who supported them throughout the process of portraying said role or creating their song or album.
This has become a sort of “award show standard” when it comes to accepting a win. Honestly, this pattern in acceptance speeches has become quite stale, even unoriginal. Personally, I want to see actors who have dedicated years of their life to a project proudly acknowledge the credit so deservingly received.
Chalamet certainly must hold this same mindset, because his acceptance speech for winning “Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role” had a unique flair. He admitted that he put five and a half years of his life into this role and that he aspires to be one of the greats. He stated,
“I can’t downplay the significance of this award because it means the most to me, and I know we’re in a subjective business, but 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 DayLewis, Marlon Brando, and Viola Davis as I am by Michael Jordan, Michael Phelps, and I want to be up there. So I’m deeply grateful. This doesn’t signify that, but it’s a little more fuel. It’s a little more ammo to keep going. Thank you so much.”
In my opinion, he was quite graceful in his acceptance, saying that he does not consider himself to already be “one of the greats.” Rather, he is inspired by them and strives to achieve the same level of success. Additionally, he includes that this award is purely fuel for him and how grateful he is to have even been granted this acknowledgement. Nonetheless, Chalamet’s speech has been picking up discourse on social media, and it seems people don’t quite know where to stand.
On the one hand, there have been numerous people who have expressed similar sentiments to Chalamet’s beliefs. They believe Chalamet not only deserved this award, but that his pride was warranted. His honesty has been appreciated and seen as refreshing. One TikToker, @stells_press, said, “For some reason, I find it’s become a sin to celebrate those goals or to even have ambition.” She continued by saying, “Certain people even roll their eyes at the process of you even trying.” With every adult I have expressed my aspirations to, following Chalamet’s model of confidence, I have been shut down. At least let us young people try!
Additionally, people are appreciating the list of “greats” Chalamet mentioned he aspires to be like—Viola Davis being one of them. I must say that I agree with Chalamet; Davis is certainly an underrated powerhouse of an actress in the industry.
On the other hand, many disagree with Chalamet’s acceptance strategy, saying that he came off as arrogant. They consider him as a conventionally attractive, white male in the industry who has already achieved great success in his career. What more could he possibly want?
Melissa Grelo, a host on the talk show The Social seemed to truly think that Chalamet’s speech aired on the side of pretentious. She stated on air, “I don’t want to knock anybody’s hustle, but Timothée, that should have stayed in your journal, my friend.” A strong reaction towards someone simply striving to perfect his craft, but an interpretation of Chalamet’s speech, nonetheless. It could certainly be seen as a fine line to walk, between showing pride in your own work and years of dedication, while maintaining what people consider to be a respectful demeanor.
Furthermore, the 97th Academy Awards, more commonly known as the Oscars, were a couple weeks ago, and I can imagine that when it came time to announce the winner for “Best Actor,” followers of the Chalamet saga were on the edge of their seats. Though he was among nominees for “Best Actor,” including Ralph Fiennes (Conclave), Sebastian Stan (The Apprentice), Colman Domingo (Sing Sing), and Adrien Brody (The Brutalist), in the end,
Chalamet lost to Adrian Brody; who coincidentally, lost to Chalamet at the SAG Awards for “Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role.” Now, people may have been split on Chalamet’s SAG acceptance speech, but it seems as though everyone is on the same page regarding Brody’s five-and-a-half-minute speech at the Oscars: it truly was ridiculous.
People are heartbroken for Chalamet as he powers through yet another loss, especially after the years of blood, sweat, and tears he poured into perfecting his role in A Complete Unknown. Regardless, Chalamet fans must retain faith that he will find the greatness he seeks in the coming years.
