Timothée Chalamet has been working hard on his latest film.
In his first extensive interview about his role as Bob Dylan in the upcoming biopic A complete unknownChalamet sat down with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe to reveal that he had to learn to play 13 of Dylan’s iconic songs for the film. To perfect the songs, he had to work with a harmonica coach for five years.
“It’s either the greatest experience I’ve ever had as an actor or the most rewarding experience I’ve had that doesn’t really translate into the impact it has, not only on people but maybe also in the finished product because I also had more challenging experiences that turned out to be more wonderful,” Chalamet said about this experience.
“I’m glad it took five, six years because now I’m deep in that Church of Bob. I feel like my mission is that for the next three months, until the movie comes out, I feel like I’m in Bob’s Church.” Bob, I am a humble disciple and I feel I have an opportunity to be a bridge for this music or this period, this time period,” he continued.
Despite delving into the “Like a Rolling Stone” singer’s life and personality, Chalamet shared that he wasn’t trying to simply imitate Dylan’s voice.
“This is an interpretation. This is not definitive. This is not the truth. This is not how it happened. This is a fable,” he said.
“This is not just me translating Bob, but Edward Norton translating Pete Seeger, Monica [Barbaro] interpret Joan Baez and Boyd Holbrook interpret Johnny Cash at this time in the ’60s, where American culture was a kaleidoscope and Greenwich Village was a kaleidoscope. The culture is still the same now, but it’s not a history teacher, it’s the beginning, the music is personalized, the content is intentional, the content is poetic, it all starts from there in the film,” Chalamet added.
In a nod to Dylan, Chalamet recalled that one day the singer’s manager secretly came to the set and, after watching the actor, praised him for capturing the “spirit” of client.
Chalamet said he was “jumping up and down saying, ‘man, Bob’s manager likes it’ and then we said, ‘oh no, Bob is so contrarian that Jeff will come up to him and say that this movie looks good and then Bob will say okay, it must be some bullshit.'”
Chalamet shared that he can’t wait to bring the voice of one generation to a whole new generation. A complete unknown will hit theaters on December 25.
Tags Timothée Chalamet, Bob Dylan