Timothee Chalamet (‘Call Me by Your Name’) could set another ‘youngest’ record with Oscar win

Frenesy Film Co/Sony/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock

If Timothee Chalamet (“Call Me by Your Name”) somehow upsets Gary Oldman (“Darkest Hour”), the “youngest Best Actor winner” badge won’t be the only age-related title he’ll get. At 22, he would also become the current youngest living Oscar winner. Put it another way: All other living Oscar winners’ current ages are older than 22.

Sam Smith, 25, currently holds the honor. The singer was 23 when he won Best Original Song for “Writing’s on the Wall” from “Spectre” two years ago, eclipsing Jennifer Lawrence, then 25, to be the youngest living person to have an Oscar.

SEE 2018 Oscar nominations: Full list of Academy Awards nominees in all 24 categories

If Chalamet doesn’t win, there is another person who can beat Smith’s record this year: Best Actress contender Saoirse Ronan (“Lady Bird”) is 23 years old.

Both Chalamet and Ronan are second in our combined odds in their lead races behind heavy favorites Oldman and Frances McDormand (“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”). But irrespective of all that, Ronan arguably stands a better shot at winning than Chalamet because as we all know, it’s much harder for young actors to win Oscars than it is for young actresses. Lawrence, 27, is the current youngest living actress, lead or supporting, winner, while Eddie Redmayne, 36, is the current youngest living actor winner in either category. Redmayne’s also the first Best Actor winner to be born in the ‘80s and Chalamet, already the first ’90s-born Best Actor nominee, would be the first champ to be born in the ‘90s.

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