- Chalamet covered three of his “personal favourite” Bob Dylan tracks
- He made some unexpected song choices
- A Complete Unknown is out now and received Oscar nominations
Timothée Chalamet did double duty as both a host on Saturday Night Live and a musical guest, covering three Bob Dylan songs.
Read more: Timothee Chalamet praised for A Complete Unknown
The covers were a nod to his performance in A Complete Unknown, for which he has been nominated for an Oscar.
In his opening monologue as host, Chalamet suggested that the choices during his musical segment would be surprising. “You might not know the Bob Dylan songs I’m performing, but they’re my personal favorites,” he told the audience. “I’m so grateful ‘Saturday Night Live’ is still doing weird stuff like this 50 years in. They’re either really nice for letting me do this or incredibly mean and this is all a big prank.”
True to form, Chalamet performed three slightly lesser-known Dylan songs. Leading up to the performance, the expectation was that he would reprise songs he performs in the James Mangold-directed film. Instead, he went in the complete opposite direction.
Which Dylan songs did Chalamet play?
Chalamet’s first two picks were ‘Outlaw Blues’ and ‘Three Angels’, which are generally familiar to Dylan superfans but have never been included on a greatest hits album.
Read more: Iconic Timothee Chalamet press tour moments
He performed in his own voice instead of stepping back into the Dylan role, with James Blake backing him on keyboards.
Later, he returned to finish the show with ‘Tomorrow Is A Long Time’.
Chalamet previously hosted Saturday Night Live in 2023, during which he impersonated director Martin Scorsese.
How well did A Complete Unknown do in the Oscar nominations?
The Dylan biopic received eight nominations for the Oscars, including one for Chalamet in the category Actor In A Leading Role.
It’s also up for Best Picture. Monica Barbaro was nominated for Actress In A Supporting Role for her acclaimed performance as Joan Baetz, while Edward Norton was also recognised for Actor In A Supporting Role for playing Pete Seeger. Furthermore, James Mangold is up for Best Director.
A Complete Unknown also scored nominations for Adapted Screenplay, Sound and Costume Design.
In an interview with Deadline, Mangold said he was “thrilled with the honor”.
“This project’s really unique in that we’ve all been together working on this film for almost six years,” he said. “This movie hasn’t been gestating as a development project. It’s been gestating as a fully-cast, written movie that was delayed by Covid and then industry strikes and cast schedules, and we all hung together and have become friends as well as creative partners. So there’s just huge mutual joy to see so many elements of our film getting honored by the Academy today.”
