Timotheé Chalamet learned 30 Bob Dylan songs for upcoming biopic A Complete Unknown

12 November 2024, 15:08

Timothée Chalamet and Bob Dylan circa 1965. Picture: James Devaney/GC Images, Val Wilmer/Redferns/Getty

By Jenny Mensah

Watch Timothée Chalamet in the trailer for the Bob Dylan biopic, which also stars Ed Norton and Elle Fanning.

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Timotheé Chalamet says he learned 30 songs for his role in the new Bob Dylan biopic.

The French-American actor is set to portray the legendary singer song writer in A Complete Unknown, which charts Dylan's career from his arrival in New York city in 1961 up until 72 hours after he plays the Newport folk festival in 1965 (where he's famously known for going electric).

Speaking on a special Apple Music feature, the star revealed: "For the movie, I had to learn 13, let’s say, or something, but in total, I could probably play 30. So Tim Monich was a dialect coach. That’s who I worked with for years on this. Worked with a harmonica coach for five years. And then, worked with a woman named Polly Bennett, who’s a movement coach that actually we got more out of just working on the script together than anything physicality related."

The Dune star - who "retraced" the legendary musicians' steps for the film by spending time in Chicago, Madison and two weeks in Wisconsin - also revealed that he felt most comfortable performing Dylan's songs live.

“It was the most unique challenge I’ve taken on," he explained "But where my confidence came through is eventually doing all the music live.”

Watch the trailer for A Complete Unknown and see Chalamet singing as the icon, below:

Watch the trailer for A Complete Unknown

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A Complete Unknown, from director James Mangold, is set to be released in US cinemas on 25th December 2024 and in January 2025 in the UK.

Chalamet is joined in the biopic by Ed Norton as American folk singer and social activist Pete Seeger, Elle Fanning as Dylan's '60s love interest Sylvie Russo, Boyd Holbrook as the legendary Johnny Cash and Monica Barbaro as American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist Joan Baez.

Asked if there were any eerie moments when helping Chalamet find the voice of Bob Dylan, Mangold previously told Rolling Stone: "Yes, there are. Eerie is a bad word. Miraculous. And there were also moments where it felt like something was getting channeled. I don’t mean in mimicry. I mean in feeling. But there were also moments where Timmy would come up to me and go, 'I think I lost Bob a little,' or I’d say, when that happens, 'You’re losing him a little bit.' And that was our code for drifting too much into yourself and not carrying some of those affectations and mannerisms that are part and parcel of being him."