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There was a time – not that long ago – when Timothée Chalamet was the favorite to win this year’s Academy Award for Best Actor.
The 30-year-old has received rave reviews for his work in Marty SupremeBut most influential was the press tour he launched on his own behalf.
Before the film’s release, Timmy was everywhere: talk shows, social media feeds, standing atop the Sphere in Vegas — you name it.
He was promoting MartySure – but he was also promoting himself.
Chalamet made no secret of the fact that he very much wanted to see the Oscar on his shelf.
He has already come close more than once.
This is Timmy’s third nomination, and for a while, it looked like this would finally be his year.
Having just turned 30 in December, Chalamet will be one of the youngest Best Actor winners in history.
(Adrien Brody holds the title by a wide margin – no pun intended – after scoring his statuette pianist At the age of 29 years and 343 days.)
But he’s been on the scene so long — and given so many strong performances — that it seemed like he was long overdue for Hollywood’s biggest award.
Last January, Chalamet’s victory seemed like a lock.
He took home the top prize at the Golden Globes, and many prognosticators began to take his Oscar win as a foregone conclusion.
But then Michael B. Jordan took home the top prize at the Actor’s Awards. Chalamet was overlooked at the BAFTA Awards, with the night’s Best Actor award going to Robert Aramayo.
Chalamet has had some small wins in the small slams leading up to the Oscars, but increasingly, there’s a sense that Jordan has the momentum heading into the industry’s biggest night.
So what happened?
Well, Chalamet may have let himself down a little also It’s been visible for the past few weeks (did we mention that Sphere trick?).
Oscar voters like to maintain the illusion that they vote on the strength of the performances, not how hard the actors campaign.
Harvey Weinstein is generally credited as the inventor of the modern-day ultra-aggressive awards season, and his tactics have fallen out of favor for obvious reasons.
Furthermore, Timmy didn’t improve his odds when he made a huge unforced error, citing the declining popularity of opera and ballet during a meeting with Matthew McConaughey.
While Chalamet may consider himself primarily a movie star, many, if not most, Academy members do. Artists – Those who live in a world adjacent to the world occupied by opera singers and ballet dancers.
Thus, an offhand remark may have dealt him a fatal blow in the final days of Oscar voting.
But whatever happens Sunday night, Timmy will be fine.
He’s still one of the biggest stars on the planet, still dating Kylie Jenner, and has a slew of high-profile projects under his belt (as he always does).
We are sure he will win an Oscar eventually.
He might have to wait a year for Michael B. Jordan to not be nominated.
