Timothée Chalamet won the SAG Award for best actor, his first major acting prize, at the awards show Sunday night.
The actor, 29, was recognized for his role as singer Bob Dylan in “A Complete Unknown.” Although Chalamet’s performance was widely celebrated, Adrien Brody of “The Brutalist” has bested Chalamet by winning every other major award 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 Sunday, 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.
Chalamet was nominated alongside Brody, 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. He was also nominated under the best cast category for “A Complete Unknown.”
Chalamet’s young career has already included several major award nominations, but Sunday marks his first time taking one home. When the actor hosted “Saturday Night Live” in January, he devoted much of his monologue to an extended joke about consistently losing at awards shows.
His win sets the stage for an unpredictable outcome at next week’s Academy Awards. He is up against Brody, Domingo, Fiennes, and Sebastian Stan, who’s nominated for “The Apprentice.” If he wins, Chalamet will also become the youngest to take the lead actor trophy. Brody, who won for “The Pianist” in 2003 just weeks shy of his 30th birthday, currently holds that title.
