Timothée Chalamet is no stranger to the Academy spotlight, and he’s learning to live with its sting. After two nominations and zero wins, the A Complete Unknown star has opened up about what it really feels like to lose on Hollywood’s biggest night.
In a recent interview with Vogue, Chalamet offered a refreshingly candid take on award-season psychology — one that punctures the usual humility of post-ceremony interviews. “If there’s five people at an awards show, and four people go home losing, you don’t think those four people are at the restaurant like, ‘Damn, we didn’t win’?” he said, adding that even the most grounded performers can’t help but feel that twinge of frustration. “I’ve been around some deeply generous, no-ego actors, and maybe some of them are going, ‘That was fun.’ But I know for a fact a lot of them are going, ‘F***!’”
The actor, now 29, has faced back-to-back disappointments at the Oscars — first for Call Me by Your Name and more recently for A Complete Unknown, where he portrayed Bob Dylan under the direction of James Mangold. Despite losing to Adrien Brody, Chalamet insists he’s not disheartened, just determined. “People can call me a try-hard,” he told Vogue. “They can say whatever they want. But I’m the one actually doing it here.”
That attitude may sound defiant, but it’s also revealing of a generation of performers who see ambition as an act of authenticity rather than arrogance. Chalamet’s self-awareness — his acknowledgment that he cares too much — sits in contrast with the practiced nonchalance Hollywood so often rewards. He isn’t pretending to be indifferent to success; he’s admitting how much it matters.
Earlier this year, Chalamet won the SAG Award for Outstanding Male Actor in a Leading Role for A Complete Unknown, where he credited legends like Daniel Day-Lewis and Viola Davis as artistic benchmarks. While his acceptance speech drew mixed reactions — some labeling it self-congratulatory — it also reinforced the actor’s growing reputation as a performer intent on longevity rather than hype.
From his breakout in Call Me by Your Name to franchise turns in Dune and Wonka, Chalamet has oscillated between indie intimacy and blockbuster ambition. Losing an Oscar may hurt, but it also seems to have clarified his focus. “He’s still trying,” as he said — and in an industry built on appearances, that kind of honesty might be the rarest quality of all.
