What it takes to be great
“The truth is, I’m really in pursuit of greatness. I know people don’t usually talk like that, but I want to be one of the greats.”
You probably saw Timothée Chalamet’s SAG Award acceptance speech last month. It was clipped on social media only about a million times.
”I’m inspired by the greats,” he went on to say. “I’m inspired by the greats here tonight. I’m as inspired by Daniel Day-Lewis, Marlon Brando, and Viola Davis as I am by Michael Jordan and Michael Phelps—and I want to be up there.”
It was a bold statement from a 29 year-old actor. He skipped the pleasantries and the humble brags, and just told everyone that he wanted to be great.
What does it take to be great? Great question. Let’s start by listening to a 17 year-old actor’s take. Here’s a quote from Timothée Chalamet in 2013—12 years before his award-winning performance in A Complete Unknown.
“The best thing you can do is just fail—is to really just fall flat on your face,” Chalamet said in a seemingly impromptu testimonial for a youth development program called YoungArts. “It’s awesome to be on a great TV show, and all this stuff, but the best is when I can get up in front of the class, and do a monologue that kind of just falls flat, and nobody really gets, and the comedy doesn’t hit.” He went on to describe how those moments teach him the most, by laying bare his ego, and forcing him to start over and find something else that works.
I’ve confessed my own fear of failure on this blog before. I’ve been too keen on following my wins, and minimizing my losses. But as Chalamet says, maybe there’s wisdom in chasing opportunities to fail, accepting those failures, and learning how to turn them around.
