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In A Complete Unknown, Timothée Chalamet portrayed singer Bob Dylan, which was well received. The film was directed by James Mangold who co-wrote it with Jay Cocks. It was based on Elijah Wald's 2015 book Dylan Goes Electric! which chronicled Dylan's switch to electronic equipment after a successful folk career.
The film was released on December 25, 2024, by Searchlight Pictures and ended up grossing over $100 million. In an interview, Chalamet spoke about how one of Dylan's songs inspired him to portray the artist on screen. So, let's find out what he said and the song he spoke about.
Timothée Chalamet was inspired by a Bob Dylan song for A Complete Unknown
Timothée Chalamet gave an interview to Apple Music in November 2024 when he was promoting the biographical music drama A Complete Unknown. He spoke about how one song by Bob Dylan inspired him to take on the role in the film. The actor stated that he was inspired by The Ballad Of A Thin Man from Dylan as he saw its live version in the 2005 documentary film No Direction Home, which was directed by Martin Scorsese. He said,
"For me, it started with the music..this song Ballad of A Thin Man the live version that's in the Scorsese doc. That was my way in."
He further added,
"I'm now deep in that church of Bob and I feel like I got this opportunity to kind of be a bridge to this music."
The interviewer then asked Chalamet if understanding what Dylan went through has changed him. The Dune actor responded,
"Like Bob says at the end I don't look back I feel like I went through a thing and it was like a new guiding light to how I want to feel when I work."
More about A Complete Unknown
A Complete Unknown traces the life of Bob Dylan as he rises to become a successful singer in the folk world. The storyline then pivots to the moment when Dylan switched to using electronic equipment at the Newport Folk Festival. Here's the official synopsis:
"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."
Chalamet was also one of the producers of A Complete Unknown, which signifies how involved he was with the material. Besides him, the producers of the film include Mangold, Peter Jaysen, Fred Berger, Jeff Rosen, Alan Gasmer, Bob Bookman, and Alex Heineman. The film premiered in the Dolby Theatre, and it was subsequently released on December 25, 2024.
In an interview with Variety, Mangold spoke about how tricky it was to tell Dylan's story in A Complete Unknown. He said,
"It was puzzling, how to make a movie about this particular fellow and that world. And my feeling was to just refuse to acknowledge this kind of enigma stuff. Like, just make the movie, let the events happen and let the audience absorb what they want from it. There’s an interesting level to me where it’s like: How much of an enigma can a man be who’s released 55 records? How much more do you want? He has given us more personal output than almost any artist in history."
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