Timothée Chalamet’s Transformation Into Bob Dylan in Biopic Trailer Is Anything But a Simple Twist
The first full look at Timothée Chalamet as Bob Dylan just came blowin’ in the wind..
The first teaser for A Complete Unknown, released July 24, the Dune star, 28, is seen performing onstage the legendary folk rocker's 1963 song "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall."
The biopic focuses on Dylan's early days as a musician in New York City, including the Minnesota native's iconic performance at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. There, the mostly acoustic singer-songwriter rocked out on electric guitar and shook up the folk music scene.
"He dropped in on us outta nowhere and he played us a song," a voice says in the trailer, as Chalamet's Dylan is seen walking near the Chelsea Hotel, where he and many other artists once called home. "And in that moment, we got a feeling we were getting a glimpse of the future."
He is later shown performing in a home for a group of friends and noting at the end, "That's all I got so far."
But the movie won’t just delve into Dylan's music life as the trailer shares a glimpse into his romance with Elle Fanning's fictional character Sylvie Russo, who is based on his real girlfriend at the time, Suze Rotolo, and who appears on the cover of his 1963 album The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan.
Of course, A Complete Unknown, directed by James Mangold, also features appearances by his famous friends from the era as the cast includes Monica Barbaro as fellow musician Joan Baez, Edward Norton as Pete Seeger, Boyd Holbrook as Johnny Cash and Scoot McNairy as Woody Guthrie.
The film itself has already gotten Dylan’s seal of approval as Mangold consulted the 81-year-old. And the Logan director couldn’t help but praise Chalamet's performance as the rocker.
"Timmy really carries this character from a 19-year-old boy telling tales of working on the carnival into this person that we recognize as an icon," he told Rolling Stone. "It’s going to be impossible for people in trailers or teasers or photos to see, but the way he grows this character is a real act of acting brilliance in my opinion."
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