Timothee Chalamet Sings as Bob Dylan in New ‘A Complete Unknown’ Biopic Trailer
Timothée Chalamet showcased his vocals in the new trailer for his Bob Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown.
The trailer, which was released on Tuesday, October 8, begins with Dylan (Chalamet) traveling from Minnesota to New York City with his guitar to focus on his singing career.
“They say no one wants to hear what a kid wrote last month,” Dylan says while Sylvie Russo (Elle Fanning) replies, “Well, I like your songs.”
While forming a connection with Joan Baez (Monica Barbaro), Dylan and the singer duet at the 1963 Monterey Folk Festival.
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“If anyone’s gonna hold your attention on a stage, you have to kind of be a freak,” Dylan says. “You can be beautiful or you can be ugly, but you can’t be plain.”
As Dylan’s career begins to take off, he grapples with releasing new music. “Two hundred people in that room and each one wants me to be somebody else,” he says. “They should just let me be.” When asked “what” Dylan’s crowd should let him be, he replies, “Whatever it is they don’t want me to be.”
The trailer continues with Dylan worrying about being stuck with “Blowin’ in the Wind,” running away after getting recognized in public places and the controversy surrounding his decision to go electric.
“You came here with nothing but a guitar. You never talk about your family, your past,” Sylvie says, while Dylan replies, “People make up their past, Sylvie! They remember what they want, they forget the rest.”
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The clip progresses with Dylan taking the stage and transfixing the crowd with his tune “Like a Rolling Stone.”
Ahead of the trailer’s release, director James Mangold teased that Chalamet — who previously showcased his vocal skills in 2023’s Wonka, the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory prequel — would sing.
Chalamet, for his part, has been gearing up for the role. “I haven’t stopped preparing, which has been one of the greatest gifts for me,” he told Variety in November 2022. “It’s been a wonderful experience getting to dive into that world, whether we get to make it or not.”
He continued, “But without giving anything away — because I don’t want to beat anyone to the punch, and obviously things have to come together officially — the winds that are blowing are blowing in a very positive direction.”
Dylan himself has given his stamp of approval to A Complete Unknown. “I’ve spent several, wonderfully charming, days in his company, just one-on-one, talking to him,” Mangold said on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast in July 2023. “I have a script that’s personally annotated by him and treasured by me. He loves movies. The first time I sat down with Bob, one of the first things he said to me was, ‘I love [your movie] Cop Land.’”
A Complete Unknown hits theaters on December 25.