Actor Timothée Chalamet has entered the race for one of entertainment’s highest honors, the EGOT, after securing his first-ever Grammy nomination. The nomination is for the soundtrack of the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown, in which he stars and performs. This achievement brings the 29-year-old actor one award away from joining the elite group of 19 artists who have won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony.
The Grammy nomination was announced in late 2024 for the Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media category. The album features Chalamet performing classic Bob Dylan songs, including “Masters of War” and “Blowin’ in the Wind.” It also includes performances from fellow cast members Monica Barbaro, who plays Joan Baez, and Edward Norton, who portrays Pete Seeger.
This nomination marks Chalamet’s first step into the music industry’s top awards, adding to his already impressive collection of major award nominations, which includes two Academy Award nominations.
What an EGOT Means
An EGOT is a rare and prestigious accomplishment in the entertainment industry. It signifies that an artist has won a competitive Emmy for television, a Grammy for music, an Oscar for film, and a Tony for theater. Only 19 people in history have achieved this status. The most recent addition was music icon Elton John.
For Chalamet, a Grammy win would leave him needing only an Emmy and a Tony to complete the set. He already has two Oscar nominations to his name.
The Role That Earned the Nod
Chalamet’s Grammy nomination stems from his immersive performance as a young Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown. The film, directed by James Mangold, focuses on the early years of Dylan’s career and his controversial shift from acoustic folk music to electric rock in the 1960s.
To prepare for the role, Chalamet dedicated over five years to learning Dylan’s distinctive musical style. He worked with a guitar teacher and took voice and harmonica lessons. In a notable commitment to authenticity, all of his musical performances in the film were sung and played live on set, rather than being pre-recorded in a studio.
His guitar teacher, Larry Saltzman, noted that the actor never wanted to take shortcuts. Chalamet’s approach was to fully embody the musician, a effort that clearly resonated with Grammy voters.
“You can’t re-create it in the studio,” Chalamet explained about his decision to perform live. “If I was singing to a prerecorded guitar, then all of a sudden I could hear the lack of an arm movement in my voice.”
A Competitive Awards Season
The Grammy nomination caps off a successful awards season for Chalamet and A Complete Unknown. Just weeks before the Grammy announcement, Chalamet scored a major upset at the 2025 Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards, where he won the award for Outstanding Male Actor in a Leading Role.
During his emotional acceptance speech, he acknowledged the significance of the win.
“I was not expecting this at all… truly,” Chalamet said upon accepting his SAG Award. He called Dylan a “true American hero” and added that it was the “honor of a lifetime playing him.”
The film’s soundtrack faces strong competition in the Grammy category. Other nominees include the star-studded Sinners soundtrack, the KPop Demon Hunters album, the Wicked cast album featuring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, and F1 The Album.
A Track Record of Critical Acclaim
Timothée Chalamet’s career has been defined by critically acclaimed performances. He first gained major recognition for his leading role in the 2017 film Call Me by Your Name, which earned him his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. At the time, he became the third-youngest nominee ever in that category.
His second Oscar nomination came for his portrayal of Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown. His major award nominations include four Golden Globe Awards, four British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs), and seven Screen Actors Guild Awards. His SAG Award win in early 2025 for A Complete Unknown was his first from that organization.
The Grammy nomination places him in a new league of multi-disciplinary artists. As the awards ceremony approaches, all eyes will be on Chalamet to see if he can secure the first of the four awards needed for his EGOT.
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