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Olympic gold medal-winning American icon Michael Phelps shared a classy response to actor Timothee Chalamet name-checking him during his speech at the SAG Awards over the weekend. Chalamet, who won Best Actor for his work in A Complete Unknown, said that he’s inspired by greats like Phelps.
During his speech at the SAG Awards, accepting the award for Best Actor, Timothee Chalamet sounded more like an elite athlete than a self-important actor as he detailed his desire to achieve greatness.
“I know the classiest thing would be to downplay the effort that went into this role and how much this means to me, but the truth is, this was five and a half years of my life. I poured everything I had into playing this incomparable artist, Mr. Bob Dylan, a true American hero, and it was the honor of a lifetime playing him,” Chalamet said at the SAG Awards on Sunday night as he took home his first prize of the award season for his performance as Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown.
“I know we’re in a subjective business, but the truth is, I’m really in pursuit of greatness. I know people don’t usually talk like that, but I want to be one of the greats. I’m inspired by the greats. I’m inspired by the greats here tonight. I’m as inspired by Daniel Day-Lewis, Marlon Brando, and Viola Davis as I am by Michael Jordan, Michael Phelps, and I want to be up there. So I’m deeply grateful. This doesn’t signify that, but it’s a little more fuel. It’s a little more ammo to keep going. Thank you so much.”
Phelps clearly got wind of Chalamet’s comments and responded via an Instagram Story as he shared a video of Chalamet’s speech with the caption “Huge honor to [be] mentioned in this… Hard work DOES pay off! LFG @tchalamet! Congrats!”
Michael Phelps says Timothée’s shoutout to be a huge honor, damn. pic.twitter.com/OHfXJkJmwI
— sic (@siciiily) February 25, 2025
Chalamet getting a shout out from Phelps is just the latest twist in a potentially career-defining press tour/Oscar campaign in which he’s successful expanded his public profile into someone that people aren’t only aware of but are actively rooting for (from the likes of Kendrick Lamar to Theo Von to Mad Dog Russo).
Heading into the Academy Awards on Sunday, Chalamet is an underdog to win Best Actor with odds of about +160, with Adrien Brody being the favorite to win for his work in The Brutalist. That said, The Academy has the unique opportunity to anoint Chalamet as the next The Guy and, in my opinion, would be insane to pass that up.
Content shared from brobible.com.