Timothée Chalamet wanted to use his third Saturday Night Live monologue to finally read aloud his long-held awards show acceptance speech.
“A Complete Unknown just got eight Academy Award nominations — and I’m truly overjoyed,” Chalamet, 29, said during the Saturday, January 25, show. “I was literally crying in my dressing room here when I found out. The entire creative team worked extremely hard to bring to life the brilliant artist Bob Dylan, a man whose music and career has become a guiding light to me.”
Chalamet was recently honored with a 2025 Golden Globe nomination for the role, which he ultimately lost to Adrien Brody. Earlier this week, he scored a 2025 Oscars nomination for the same performance.
“It’s an enormous honor going to these award shows. It’s such a great experience, but I just keep losing,” he lamented in his monologue. “Each time it gets harder to pretend it doesn’t sting.”
Timothee Chalamet ‘Floored’ by Bob Dylan’s Praise of ‘A Complete Unknown’
According to Chalamet, he ended up licking his post-Golden Globes wounds via “another lonely night with my Dune popcorn bucket.” (The actor also starred in the Dune films, which AMC promoted by releasing a themed popcorn container that many fans believed appeared sexual.)
“The most embarrassing part is I’ve got this sad, little speech in my pocket for four years that I’ve never gotten a chance to read,” Chalamet said. “I was thinking, maybe tonight, I could read it for everyone here.”
As Chalamet prepared to use the SNL stage as a would-be award show to finally deliver his speech, longtime SNL cast member Kenan Thompson took over the moment.
“Thank you, thank you,” Thompson, 46, quipped, holding a fake trophy. “We did it! Thank you so much. I didn’t expect this. To my fellow nominees, you did beautiful work this year. Anyway, I love Bob Dylan. This is for you, Bob. We got a great show for y’all.”
Chalamet then pretended to sulk, even lamenting that Thompson the iconic SNL catchphrase.
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“Come on, Kenan, can I do that part? I’m never here,” Chalament pleaded. “I just wanted to say that I’m really excited for tonight. You might not know the Bob Dylan songs I’m performing, but they’re my personal favorites. I’m so grateful that Saturday Night Live is still doing weird stuff like this 50 years in. They’re either really nice for letting me do this or incredibly mean. I sincerely can’t tell. We’ll find out.”
Later in the episode, Chalamet performed “Tomorrow Is a Long Time” and “Outlaw Blues/Three Angels.” His performances were introduced by former SNL star Adam Sandler, who kept making jokes about mispronouncing Chalamet’s last name.
Saturday Night Live airs on NBC Saturdays at 11:30 p.m. ET.
