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A Complete Unknown is a biographical account of the life of singer Bob Dylan. Directed by James Mangold, it stars Timothée Chalamet in the lead role, The film is written by Mangold and Jay Cocks who adapted it from Elijah Wald's 2015 book called Dylan Goes Electric!.
Monica Barbaro plays the role of Joan Baez, and to prepare for the role, she learnt to sing for real, and that too with fake teeth. Here's the official synopsis of the film:
In 1961, an unknown 19-year-old Bob Dylan arrives in New York City with his guitar and forges relationships with musical icons on his meteoric rise, culminating in a groundbreaking performance that reverberates around the world.
Did Monica Barbaro sing in A Complete Unknown?
Monica Barbaro plays singer-songwriter Joan Baez in James Mangold's A Complete Unknown. Throughout the film, Monica sings and plays the guitar for real on her own, and the character introduces Bob to the audience. Barbaro recently interviewed with Cosmopolitan about her preparation for the role. The actress said the writer's strike in 2023 gave her time, which she used to hone her musical craft.
"Initially, I had five months. We were supposed to start filming September of 2023, and then the strikes happened, and so we had to put pencils down, stop and not train with our coaches. But I had the time to continue working on the music alone."
She further added about meeting Riley Keough, who told her she would learn the beats in five months. She said,
"I met Riley Keough at an event and we talked about learning guitar and singing for roles. She was like, “Actually, around five months was when I felt like I started to have a proficiency.” And so throughout my process, I kept thinking of her and being like, Okay, in five months, I’ll feel a little better about this. And I think that was true for me too."
In the same interview, Barbaro said that singing in A Complete Unknown was her biggest challenge. She also mentioned mastering the guitar was an emotional challenge because it was very technical.
"I had some sense of my voice on my own, but playing guitar is so technical and so that really intimidated me, and the pace I had to play songs early on was just so excruciatingly slow to get the finger picking coordination. At the end of the day, what I was most worried about was having Joan’s voice in this feel appropriately representative of her voice."
The actress had to put on fake teeth for the role.
More about A Complete Unknown
A Complete Unknown revolves around Bob Dylan's journey from being a nobody to becoming a popular singer. The film showcases his pivot to electronic equipment from folk music, for which he received some heat from viewers.
The film was released on December 25, 2024, by Searchlight Pictures. It minted $120 million at the box office and received positive critical feedback. The film was nominated in eight categories at the 97th Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
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