Timothée Chalamet took a different route for his third “Saturday Night Live” hosting gig.
The actor pulled double duty on the Jan. 25 episode, joining the likes of Lily Tomlin and Gary Busey in the group of actors who have hosted and performed as the musical guest.
Chalamet, who was nominated for best actor in a leading role at the 2025 Oscars for portraying Bob Dylan in “A Complete Unknown,” performed several of the musician’s songs during the evening.
He opted not to play any of the tracks that were featured on the movie’s soundtrack, sharing in his monologue that the songs he chose were simply his “personal favorites.”
Chalamet’s first performance was teed up by an introduction from Adam Sandler before cutting to the actor on a dark stage wearing a jacket with a fur-trimmed hood and an oversized pair of sunglasses.
He began with the high-energy tune “Outlaw Blues” from the 1965 album “Bringing It All Back Home.” In addition to singing live, Chalamet played electric guitar with support from a full band.
The performance took a softer turn when Chalamet pivoted to a medley with the tune “Three Angels” from 1970’s “New Morning.” He ditched his guitar and left his spot center stage to join musician James Blake at his piano, sitting down to finish off the song.
For his second performance of the night, Chalamet played “Tomorrow Is a Long Time,” which was featured on “Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits Vol. II” in 1971.
The Academy Award nominated actor played the song solo at first. Chalamet sat on a stool on the dark stage with just his acoustic guitar to start the song before he was eventually joined by his band to round out the performance.
Chalamet got a thumbs up from Dylan fans after his performances, with one user commenting on YouTube, “This Bob Dylan fan approves. You’ve gone above and beyond.”
“As a pretty big Dylan fan, I appreciate these deep cuts,” another fan of the iconic artist wrote. “Great choices.”
Another YouTube user commended Chalamet’s talent, writing, “Seriously everything I see this kid in he just transforms – insanely talented.”
Some fans noted they became “emotional” watching Chalamet perform, with one fan writing, “The second song was so emotional. Anyone else out there shed a tear?”
One fan even joked, “ok I’ve seen enough give him an Oscar.”
But not everyone was a fan. One person on X didn’t appear to be thrilled by the actor’s vocal abilities, writing, “Be honest… it’s not great! I you wanna watch actors who can sing… Cynthia Erivo — Ariana Grande. Your welcome.”
Chalamet transformed into Dylan in order to portray the musician in “A Complete Unknown,” which included showcasing his musical skills.
The actor sang all of the songs for the film and performed them live on camera. He also put in several years of work leading up to the movie, including starting guitar lessons in 2019 as well as learning how to play the harmonica.
Chalamet had no trouble poking fun at himself during the episode, including calling out the absurdity of him being the musical guest.
“I’m so grateful ‘Saturday Night Live’ is still doing weird stuff like this 50 years in,” Chalamet said at the end of his monologue. “They’re either really nice for letting me do this, or incredibly mean and this is all a big prank. I sincerely can’t tell.”
Less than a month after Nikki Glaser joked about his facial hair at the Golden Globes, Chalamet noted in his monologue that it was his first time hosting with a “little stache and a little goatee.”
He even made a point to have the camera do a close up to capture all “37 hairs” on his face (he counted).
Chalamet also had no trouble bringing up his past award show losses, at one point showing a montage of himself looking despondent in the crowd every time his name wasn’t announced.
Even when he tried to re-create a winning moment during the monologue, Kenan Thompson’s name was called instead and Chalamet had to sit in the audience and watch the comedian give his acceptance speech.
This article originally appeared on TODAY.com. Read more from TODAY:
