Timothée Chalamet reveals startling detail about Bob Dylan ahead of upcoming biopic A Complete Unknown
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Timothee Chalamet did not have any face time with Bob Dylan ahead of playing the iconic singer-songwriter in the upcoming biopic A Complete Unknown.
'I never met him,' the 28-year-old actor told Apple Music 1's The Zane Lowe Show Monday, as he promotes the forthcoming film, which is due in theaters Christmas day.
The Oscar-nominated actor noted that he 'would love to' meet Dylan, 83, but the Like a Rolling Stone artist has kept a low-profile in recent years.
'He's sort of retreated from the public eye,' Chalamet said. 'Never met him ... I've seen him live.'
Chalamet - who leads a cast also featuring Edward Norton, Elle Fanning, Monica Barbaro and Scoot McNairy - said that Dylan had a measure of creative control throughout production of the James Mangold-directed biographical drama.
Timothee Chalamet, 28, did not meet Bob Dylan ahead of playing him in the upcoming biopic A Complete Unknown. Pictured as Dylan while filming in New Jersey in June
The iconic singer-songwriter, 83, was pictured performing in Indiana last year at a benefit
'He approved the script, he made modifications to the script, there are lines that are his in the script that I relished,' Chalamet said in the interview.
Chalamet said he hoped Mangold would pass along a script Dylan made notes on as a holy grail cinematic memento.
'There was one I was saying to Jim Mangold … "This is good, man - when did you come up with this?" He goes, "Bob put that in." He has the Bob-annotated script. I want it.'
Chalamet said he sang and performed in the film, and did not seek to emulate Dylan, as it wouldn't have 'make sense' creatively to even attempt to impersonate the musical staple.
'Bob did not have a vocal coach,' he told Lowe. 'He had two bottles of red wine and four packs of cigarettes - there's no way to impersonate that.'
He said of his performance as Dylan: 'This is interpretive. This is not definitive. This is not fact. This is not how it happened. This is a fable.'
Dylan 'had some instinct to not let people in at the beginning,' Chalamet said, adding that he can understand how the singer might have been viewed as having distinctly different traits than the others at the top of his field.
Said Chalamet: 'When I look at my contemporaries now, I don't really see myself in the mirror. I don't say that to put myself down, I just don't.'
The Oscar-nominated actor was pictured filming a frenetic scene in New Jersey in April
Chalamet said he hoped director James Mangold (center) would pass along a script Dylan made notes on as a holy grail cinematic memento for his collection. Pictured in New Jersey April 29
Searchlight Pictures released on Instagram five promotional images of the actors in the film and their musical counterparts
Chalamet said he feels a sense of of awkwardness and lack of polish compared to others in show business.
'When I watch group interviews for movies I put out and they cut to other castmates, I think they're much better spoken,' Chalamet said.
He added: 'They can flip the Hollywood thing on way better than I - I feel like I stumble over my words and can't really get it across.'
In the interview, Chalamet said his prep to play Dylan included work with a harmonica coach for a five-year span; and a 'spirit-gathering' drive through locations integral to Dylan's roots with stops in Minnesota, Illinois and Wisconsin.
'I'm happy it took five, six years because I am now deep in that Church of Bob,' Chalamet said. 'I feel like that's my mission is the next three months, until the movie comes out, I feel like I'm in the Church of Bob, I'm a humble disciple.
'And I feel like I got this opportunity to kind of be a bridge to this music or this period, this time period.'
Chalamet's revelations came in the first part of an extensive interview with Lowe - part two is slated to be released next month.
It comes as Searchlight Pictures released on Instagram five promotional images of the actors in the film and their musical counterparts.
Norton, whose credits include American History X and Fight Club, plays the late Pete Seeger
Fanning, who has been seen in Super 8 and Maleficent, portrays a character named Sylvie Russo, inspired by Dylan’s late ex-girlfriend, artist Suze Rotolo
Barbaro, who has been seen in Top Gun: Maverick and FUBAR, plays folk icon Joan Baez
Holbrook, who has been seen in Logan and The Predator, follows in the footsteps of Walk the Line's Joaquin Phoenix in bringing the late Johnny Cash to the silver screen
A number of enthusiastic filmgoers made clear they were exited for the forthcoming release in the adjacent comment thread
They include Chalamet as Dylan; Norton as Pete Seeger; Fanning as Sylvie Russo; Barbaro as Joan Baez and Boyd Holbrook as Johnny Cash.
A number of enthusiastic filmgoers made clear they were exited for the forthcoming release in the adjacent comment thread.
'Love these posters- can totally feel the vibe of that period. Can’t wait to see this film!!' one user said.
Another added, 'All the posters are awesome. We can feel the greatness here!'
Said one user: 'These are absolutely stunning!! Every day I just keep getting more and more excited to see this movie.
Chalamet's breakout role came with the 2017 motion picture Call Me By Your Name, which garnered him an Oscar nod for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role the following year.
