Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1535197
72 SAG-AFTR A | Spring 2025 | sagaftra.org his career with commercial work, he admitted in a 2017 Indiewire interview that the late actor Heath Ledger's Joker in director Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight (2008) film inspired him to pursue acting. He studied at New York's Fiorella H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, doing off-Broadway shows, school productions and his first few appearances on Homeland. But between a brief stint at Columbia University and New York University's Gallatin School of Individualized Study, he landed a role on Nolan's Interstellar (2014), a project that helped make acting a full-time pursuit. No two Chalamet projects in the time since have been alike. Each role he selects presents a challenge to further his skills, call forth new ones and enable viewers to see more of his range. Film critic Christy Lemire praised his performance in the Luca Guadagnino romance Call Me by Your Name as a balancing act between "a boy with an intellect and quick wit beyond his years" and "a gawky and self-conscious kid" on the cusp of adulthood. In Greta Gerwig's coming-of-age film Lady Bird, The Boston Globe's Ty Burr calls him "moody, existential [and] hilarious." Chalamet's performance in Wonka showcases his talent as a dancer and vocalist with seven singing credits on the film's official soundtrack. In interviews, he details the extent of his preparation for these films: learning Italian, taking piano and guitar lessons, and undergoing extensive dance and fight training. It seems that to learn more about Chalamet through his most preferred medium — film — is to call him disciplined and dedicated, purposeful and introspective and capable. It's what makes his performance in A Complete Unknown so compelling. The near six-year project, in which Chalamet is also credited as a producer, required the actor to learn details about the enigmatic Dylan's life, musicality and personal and professional relationships beyond what some die-hard fans may know. Onscreen, Chalamet appears to have found a kindred spirit in Dylan and, as a result, delivers a performance that feels authentic as he takes in New York City for the first time and performs in smoky bars. "There are songs in Bob Dylan's discography that are in the texture and DNA of growing up in America. Songs you know without knowing them; songs that, growing up, are already in your bones," said Chalamet in a 2024 Vogue rapid-fire interview with co-star Elle Fanning, in which he calls the live version of "Ballad of a Thin Man" a major influence on his approach to the role. "It made me fall in love with Bob's music and energy, and as the character of Bob Dylan grew stronger [to me], everything [about the role] felt within my comfort zone." It is clear from his acceptance speech that Chalamet doesn't quite think of himself as "great." But what was heavily implied on the SAG Awards stage was a single word: "yet." "I want to be up there. So, I'm deeply grateful for this [award]," said Chalamet, then grabbing The Actor statuette one-handed. "This is a little more fuel, a little more ammo to keep going. Thank you so much." •