When Saturday Night time Reside introduced that Timothée Chalamet can be each the host and musical visitor on this week’s episode, the response was largely: huh?
What would Chalamet, a talented actor not normally often called a musical artist, carry out? Would he revive his high-school rap alias Lil Timmy Tim? Reprise his function as Willy Wonka? Or would he simply sing Bob Dylan songs, contemplating he has been on a protracted promotional tour for his flip as the people artist within the biopic A Full Unknown? Would he come out strumming hits resembling “Blowin’ within the Wind”?
He did sing Dylan songs final evening—however notably, he didn’t function the most well-liked stuff. Chalamet’s musical numbers have been impressed interpretations of Dylan deep cuts, together with “Three Angels” and “Tomorrow Is a Lengthy Time.” His performances have been bizarre, good, and entertaining, and a approach to present those that his dedication to Dylan has been critical.
Chalamet’s internet hosting stint was clearly strategic. Oscar nominations got here out on Thursday, and his title was referred to as as anticipated, making him, at 29, the youngest two-time nominee for the Greatest Actor class since James Dean. Chalamet highlighted the achievement in his monologue, explaining that he was in his SNL dressing room when he heard the information. “All the artistic group labored extraordinarily onerous bringing to life the sensible artist Bob Dylan, a person whose music and profession has develop into a guiding mild to me,” he stated, earnestly. No jokes might be present in that assertion, which sounded just like the sort of factor you’d say on the stage of the Dolby Theatre, holding a trophy.
However as Chalamet would shortly remind viewers: Though his work has been praised fairly a bit for somebody who has but to hit 30, he additionally hasn’t gained all that many awards. “I simply preserve dropping,” he stated. “And every time, it will get more durable to faux it doesn’t sting.” That prompted a montage of Chalamet at varied awards exhibits listening to the likes of Gary Oldman and Mahershala Ali get their title referred to as as an alternative of him, his angular face barely masking disappointment by the top. He informed the SNL viewers that he would use this internet hosting alternative to offer the acceptance speech he’d been carrying round and handed an envelope to an individual seated within the viewers to announce his title. Nevertheless, that was a arrange for an additional joke: The winner contained in the envelope was not Chalamet however the solid member Kenan Thompson. Nonetheless the monologue had a honest tone total; Chalamet, somewhat than seeming like a sore loser, cannily introduced himself as an underdog.
Within the episode’s sketches, Chalamet was an enthusiastic participant (as he has been the previous two occasions he’s hosted), throwing himself into characters together with an excessively enthusiastic bungee-fitness teacher, a nurse who does CPR by farting on faces, and a canine at a park assembly different pups. Although these have been proficient moments of comedy, the 2 musical units have been the place he actually confirmed off.
He didn’t play the well-known songs that seem in A Full Unknown, which tracks Dylan’s emergence within the Nineteen Sixties folks scene. As a substitute, Chalamet pulled out what he referred to as his “private favorites”—and revealed selections that enchantment to Dylan fanatics somewhat than informal listeners.
He first sang a medley of “Outlaw Blues,” off the 1965 album Bringing It All Again House, and “Three Angels,” from 1970’s New Morning, every rendition receiving its personal elaborate, deliberate manufacturing that proved this was no half-hearted effort. He wore huge, bug-eyed sun shades in the course of the extra upbeat “Outlaw Blues,” rocking and dancing throughout the stage as lights flashed to the tune. For the latter music he sat down subsequent to the electro-pop artist James Blake, who backed him up with vocals and keys, and slowed down, reciting the music as if it have been a poem. In the course of the second musical break, Chalamet, perched on a stool, demonstrated his acoustic-guitar-strumming approach on “Tomorrow Is a Lengthy Time,” a Dylan music typically related to its Elvis Presley cowl.
When an actor portrays a famend musician in a film, it’s not a on condition that they’ve precise musical expertise. Chalamet’s promotional tour for A Full Unknown emphasised the truth that he carried out all its songs himself; even that, nevertheless, might be written off as pure mimicry. Merely imitating Dylan didn’t appear to be Chalamet’s goal on SNL, nevertheless. The actor introduced his personal interpretations of Dylan’s music, melding the Nobel Prize winner’s artistry with Chalamet’s personal streetwear-influenced type and extra up to date musical tastes—as evidenced by the presence of Blake’s signature wail.
For anybody who was questioning Chalamet’s dedication to taking part in Dylan—together with potential Oscar voters—the evening was proof that the actor’s engagement with the musician went past the pure confines of the cinematic function. And for many who thought that Chalamet doing double obligation on SNL is perhaps a joke, the considerate manner during which he approached his job as musical visitor could have quieted any doubt. Not solely did he pay respect to Dylan; he made clear that he can placed on a present that’s all his personal.