On Sunday, Timothée Chalamet didn’t win the Oscar he openly covets, actively campaigned for, and arguably even deserved. But if Chalamet hopes to build a lasting legacy, he should be relieved he woke up empty-handed on Monday.
Chalamet was nominated this year for his lead role in “Marty Supreme,” a cocksure, live-wire performance that makes a film about ping-pong feel improbably high-stakes. Despite an early-season win at the Golden Globes and many critics predicting Chalamet’s victory at the Oscars, he lost to Michael B. Jordan, who captivated audiences as twins Smoke and Stack in the box-office hit “Sinners.”
It may seem counterintuitive that losing a prestigious award would be good for a celebrity’s career, but in Chalamet’s case, winning could’ve been much worse.
At 30, Chalamet has been nominated for best actor three times. During his campaign for the 2024 Bob Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown,” Chalamet said he was in “pursuit of greatness,” naming Oscar winners Daniel Day-Lewis, Marlon Brando, and Viola Davis as his inspirations. He ultimately lost that bid to Adrien Brody, just as he lost his first acting nomination for his breakout role in “Call Me By Your Name” to Gary Oldman.
This time around, Chalamet doubled down on his guerrilla marketing tactics to promote “Marty Supreme” during awards season. He attended red carpets dressed in bright, garish orange as a nod to his character’s custom-colored ping-pong balls. He hosted an underground table tennis tournament. He was featured on a remix by the mysterious UK artist EsDeeKid, rapping about his success and Marty Mauser-sized ego: “My life is an opera, look at the Oscars / Look at the groupies, look at the movies.” Finally, in late February, he enraged opera singers and ballet dancers when he said “no one cares” about those disciplines enough to properly fund them.
“All respect to the ballet and opera people out there,” he added. “I just lost 14 cents in viewership. I’m taking shots for no reason.”
Some of these stunts earned praise for Chalamet’s hustle. Others drew eyerolls and backlash. All attracted attention, of course, because that was the motivation all along.
Chalamet was Oscar night’s punching bag
The spotlight had been trained on Chalamet for months leading up to the Oscars, and that scrutiny didn’t stop when he arrived at the ceremony. Host Conan O’Brien didn’t waste much time before cracking a joke at Chalamet’s expense: “Security is extremely tight tonight. I’m told there are concerns about attacks from both the opera and ballet community,” O’Brien said in his opening monologue. He added, addressing Chalamet directly, “They’re just mad you left out jazz.”
Later, director Alexandre Singh seemed to taunt Chalamet during his acceptance speech for best live-action short film, telling the crowd, “We can change society through art, through creativity, through theater and ballet.” Legendary ballet dancer Misty Copeland, who’d previously rebuked Chalamet’s comments, also took the stage to dance during a performance of the best original song nominee, “I Lied To You,” from “Sinners.”
Chalamet took these slights on the chin, laughing genially at O’Brien’s joke and giving both Copeland and Jordan a standing ovation. But taken together, Chalamet had a rough night. He was the ceremony’s chosen punching bag.
Chalamet has been in pursuit of an Oscar for nearly a decade, and he’s been a serious contender more than once. If he’d finally won for “Marty Supreme,” he would’ve delivered that acceptance speech on his back foot. It’s hard to imagine any serious actor wanting their long-awaited triumph on Hollywood’s biggest stage to be eclipsed by a bout of negative press.
Plus, if Chalamet had won, the negative press surely would have intensified. His win would be described as undeserving or ill-timed. The internet would be flooded with thinkpieces about his overexposure and his try-hard vibes.
It’s the cruel, cyclical nature of celebrity culture: To succeed is to find a bigger target on your back. Audiences will inflate egos just for the pleasure of watching them pop.
Chalamet is already one of the most sought-after actors of his generation, and if he continues down this path, he’ll be well positioned to finally win an Oscar someday. After all, the Academy’s voters historically prefer to make men wait for their flowers; consider Leonardo DiCaprio, who was nominated in acting categories four times before he won at 41, or Bradley Cooper, 51, who’s still winless after five nominations.
If Chalamet is aiming for a long, celebrated career in Hollywood, he can stand to wait, too — and perhaps even lay low for a while. Let the work speak for itself. Hopefully, if and when he takes home the gold, we’ll be saying it was long overdue.
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