Bob Dylan Is ‘so Supportive’ of the Timothée Chalamet-Led Biopic ‘A Complete Unknown’

This December, Timothée Chalamet will portray Bob Dylan in the film A Complete Unknown. The movie will follow Dylan in the early 1960s. It begins with his arrival in New York City and concludes at his decision to go electric. Dylan is a notoriously prickly and private celebrity, but he is reportedly very supportive of the film.

Bob Dylan is throwing his support behind the Timothée Chalamet film ‘A Complete Unknown’

James Mangold, director of A Complete Unknown, sat down with Dylan to discuss the film. In their conversation, he explained that it was “not really a Bob Dylan biopic.” Instead, he views it as an ensemble film about that period in New York.

“The reason Bob has been so supportive of us making it, is …  as in all cases I think of the best true-life movies are never cradle to grave but they’re about a very specific moment,” Mangold told Rolling Stone.

Dylan also approved of the film’s arc.

“The first time I sat down with him, Bob said, ‘What’s this movie about, Jim?’” Mangold said in a separate interview with Rolling Stone. “I said, ‘It’s about a guy who’s choking to death in Minnesota, and leaves behind all his friends and family and reinvents himself in a brand new place, makes new friends, builds a new family, becomes phenomenally successful, starts to choke to death again — and runs away.”

Dylan reflected on this before smiling and telling Mangold, “I like that.”

Director James Mangold praised Timothée Chalamet’s performance as Bob Dylan

After the release of the film’s teaser trailer, many people have praised Chalamet’s performance. Mangold agrees that he did an excellent job in the film.

“I think what’s so wonderful about what Timmy is doing is that, while not answering questions about Bob, at the same time I think he does in a very poetic way, which is to suggest really empathically through his performance how one might want to make music, but one might not want to have people in your face all the time,” Mangold said. “And I think in a way, Bob answers that… Timmy, who I’m used to calling Bob sometimes, answers that question.”

He praised the acting choices Chalamet made to bring Dylan to life onscreen.

“I think he does an incredible job of growing the character up, because one of the things I think that will be startling is, most Dylan fans don’t focus on the boy in the newsboy cap who’s arriving in town,” Mangold said. “And 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. Timmy finds the path to carry us there. 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.”

What other actors have played the musician?

Chalamet is not the first actor to portray Dylan in a film. In 2007, Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Richard Gere, Heath Ledger, Ben Whishaw, and Marcus Carl Franklin all portrayed the artist in I’m Not There. 

The movie is a nontraditional exploration of Dylan’s life, with the actors depicting different parts of Dylan’s public persona. Blanchett received particular praise for her role, even picking up a nomination for Best Supporting Actress at the Academy Awards.