Timothée Chalamet‘s much-talked-about 2025 SAG Awards acceptance speech on Sunday night seems to have functioned as something of a Rorshach test for how you, specifically, feel about the A Complete Unknown star. If you’re a tried-and-true Chalamet stan, you were likely to find the 29-year-old-actor saying that he is “really in pursuit of greatness” charming, and if you’re a Chalamet hater, you might have found the whole thing unbearably self-aggrandizing. Before you decide, read the full text of Chalamet’s speech below:
“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 Day Lewis, 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.”
Let’s get into a little textual analysis, shall we? At first glance, this speech is…kind of a lot. On the other hand, I’m delighted by Chalamet’s choice to include Viola Davis exactly where she belongs: next to Daniel Day Lewis and Marlon Brando on a list of the greatest actors of all time. Wanting to be “one of the greats” is no crime, of course, but in the current age of Elon Musk’s DOGE bros running amok throughout the federal government and Mark Zuckerberg ordering the removal of tampons from Meta bathrooms, I’m finding it a little bit difficult to be as swayed as I might otherwise be by a show of aspiration from any man in the public eye. (Yes, my energy right now is very much Paula from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend pulling an un-refilled ice tray out of the office freezer and shouting “What MAN did this?”, but I don’t care!)
As borderline gauche as it may seem for a handsome male actor to express personal confidence or belief in himself right now, I am trying to remind myself that Chalamet is not actually an avatar for the scourge of toxic wannabe-bro culture that’s presently, um, taking over the government. He might have societal privilege aplenty, a symmetrical face, and a very famous girlfriend, but this man went to performing arts high school! He was a Barb! He favors Prada florals!
