After months of parading around New York City in brown suede and Ray-Ban sunglasses, Timothée Chalamet has brought his version of Bob Dylan to life in the new trailer for the upcoming biopic A Complete Unknown.
The Academy Award nominee first piqued our interest back in March when he randomly appeared in Manhattan one day—which is not too dissimilar to how the famous counterculture star first appeared on the scene—as a replica of the legendary folk musician. Now, the film’s director James Mangold has teased a taste of Chalamet’s electric transformation in the official full-length feature, which you can watch for yourself below.
The ballad to Dylan’s early years as a nascent guitarist in the West Village sees Chalamet sing his way to the top of the charts and hearts of America’s anti-establishment movement through his poetic and political lyricism. Indeed, that is the 28-year-old’s real voice and all the songs you hear in the movie are recordings performed live by the multi-hyphenate actor.
We’d contend that Chalamet’s Bob Dylan is the best since Cate Blanchett in Todd Haynes’ I’m Not There—something the now 83-year-old performer would agree with.
Mangold revealed back in 2023 that Dylan “personally annotated” a version of the script and gave notes about the specific crescendo of music and culture that he’s trying to capture on screen. The filmmaker added that Dylan “has been so supportive of us making it.”
Chalamet was spotted attending one of Dylan’s concerts in Brooklyn alongside his co-star Elle Fanning. Fanning plays a fictionalised version of his then-girlfriend Suze Rotolo. Dylan immortalised his relationship with the artist on the cover of his second studio album, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, in 1963. Rounding out the cast is Top Gun: Maverick star Monica Barbaro, who plays “Diamonds And Rust” singer Joan Baez, and Edward Norton as protest songwriter Pete Seeger.
As per the official logline, A Complete Unknown will chart Dylan as a 19-year-old vagabond arriving in New York from Minnesota “with his guitar and revolutionary talent, destined to change the course of American music”.
“As he forms his most intimate relationships during his rise to fame, he grows restless with the folk movement and, refusing to be defined, makes a controversial choice that culturally reverberates worldwide,” the release adds.
A Complete Unknown will arrive in Australian theatres on January 23, 2025, where you can hear Paul Muad’Dib Atreides cover “Like A Rolling Stone” to cure your new year’s blues.
In the meantime, we’re counting down the days till the press tour—with Chalamet in Haider Ackermann for Tom Ford no doubt—by keeping up with him moonlighting as a table tennis star during the leaked set photos from the upcoming A24 sports drama Marty Supreme.
This story first appeared on GRAZIA International.
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