Coming into the SAG Awards, we thought that the most competitive acting race left would be Best Actress, between Demi Moore and Mikey Madison. We’ll get to that in another post, but we’re focusing on the lead actors here because Adrien Brody has won almost everything. Still, remember, in the weeks since the holidays and through January, I’ve been posting about how Timothée Chalamet had been surging, with Oscar prognosticators noting that he was closing the gap on Adrien in the rankings around the time of the Super Bowl... even though he wasn’t picking up any hardware. 

 

The momentum was not a myth. Adrien remains the frontrunner, no doubt, but the buzz was real, and it was coming from the actors branch of the Academy. The actors last night made their choice: Timothée is their Best Actor which means, six days out from the Oscars, we have a race. 

 

Oscar voting closed last Tuesday 18 February, SAG voting closed three days later on the 21st. You would think that any actors belonging to both organisations voting for Timmy likely voted the same on both ballots. And the actors branch is the biggest at the Oscars. That said, the British voters are also a huge bloc and they went with Adrien who is still, currently, the youngest best actor in Oscar history. Timmy is now the youngest best actor in SAG history. But the odds are against him because no Oscar best actor has ever won it with just the SAG and no other awards on the circuit. 

Still, this is close and that means it’s suspenseful. On Sunday night, when either Cillian Murphy or Emma Stone present the best actor Oscar, we’ll be holding our breath – so the real winner is us, the Oscar junkies who have much more fun when it’s not a foregone conclusion. 

 

As for Timmy’s speech, this is the first one he’s given all season (that hasn’t been a career achievement) and, really, the first one he’s given in years. Because he’s never really been a serious contender the previous times he was nominated. My point is, we’ve not had many opportunities to watch Timmy win and accept an award and test out a speech. So it’s really too bad that this SAG speech happened after voting closed for the Oscars because, like, WOW. 

 

This is how you acknowledge that you’re the baby among the grownups but that you shouldn’t be treated like a baby. Thanking his mother, Nicole, was also a convenient reminder that given her work with artists’ equity in New York, he comes from union people, he was raised in a home that deeply appreciates actors and performers and sticks up for their rights. But as he made very clear, he’s not interested in making himself smaller just because he’s younger. It’s youthful confidence without arrogance. Bravado but make it respectful. Timmy boldly declared his ambition, that he aspires to greatness, that he’s in pursuit of it – and it’s a delicate balance to maintain because those who seek it obviously think they’re capable of it; and yet he manages to do this without conceit. In fact, while pointing to the rafters, Timmy actually sounded… humble. 

 

And this is why, yet another reason, he’s the star of his generation. It doesn’t matter if someone wrote that for him, it’s all in how you sell it. And he sold the f-cking sh-t out of it. 

Now, how confused are you about your Oscar ballot?! Let us know your thoughts at The Squawk! (App link here)

 

Timothee Chalamet and Adrien Brody attended the 31st Screen Actors Guild Awards on February 23, 2025 in Los Angeles.
Photo credits: Matt Sayles/ Stewart Cook/ Lisa O'Connor/ Image Press Agency/ NurPhoto/ Shutterstock

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