Timothée Chalamet was up for his very first Grammy today thanks to his portrayal of Bob Dylan in the biopic A Complete Unkonwn. (He did not win.) About exactly one year ago, Chalamet promoted the film with an appearance on SNL, hosting and performing a couple of his favorite Dylan deep cuts. It was an unconventional turn that represented a new frontier in awards campaigning. Turns out he had to do quite a bit of convincing in order to pull double duty that night.
During a Q&A today in London with Richard Curtis, Chalamet talked about the big PR moves the led to the release of his latest flick Marty Supreme. "I see myself as an artist expanding," Chalamet said, which led to him talking about the A Complete Unknown press cycle. Curtis also asked Chalamet if he's spent any of his own money doing PR.
I spent over six figures out of my pocket to do the SNL performance. Lorne Michaels said, "Hey, do you want to host SNL?" I said, "Yeah, can I do the music?" He’s like, "No." I said, "Alright, I’m not doing it." He said, "OK, do the music." But I refused to take no for an answer, and this is the new way of doing stuff. I’m trying to reach audiences, you know. I don’t want to be in the pretentious in-crowd. Marty Supreme in America had the least frequent moviegoing audience this year — people that weren’t going to see everything. That’s my favorite feedback on the movie. So the most pretentious answer I could give you, which I actually honestly feel, is that it’s not marketing or promotion. That sounds like a gimmick, and this is not a gimmick. This is coming from my heart and my soul.
Daniel Lopatin's Marty soundtrack was sadly snubbed for this year's Grammys and Oscars.
Timothée Chalamet says "I spent six figures out of my pocket to do the ‘SNL’ [musical] performance.”
— Variety (@Variety) February 1, 2026
“Lorne Michaels said, ‘Hey, do you want to host “SNL”?’ I said, ‘Yeah, can I do the music?’ He said, ‘No.’ I was like, ‘Alright, I’m not doing it.’ He said, ‘OK, do the music.’… pic.twitter.com/cmmwjDKc8s
