Timothée Chalamet and Bob Dylan.
Getty Images (2)Bob Dylan officially commented on the biopic Complete obscurity — and Timothee Chalamet couldn’t be happier.
“A movie is calling for me soon Complete obscurity (what a title!). Timothee Chalamet plays the title role,” wrote 83-year-old Dylan through X on Wednesday, December 4. “Timmy is a brilliant actor so I’m sure he will be completely believable as me. Or younger me. Or some other me.”
He continued: “The film was taken from Elijah Waldis Dylan goes electric – a book that came out in 2015. This is a fantastical retelling of the events of the early 1960s that led to the Newport fiasco. After watching the movie, read the book.”
While it’s unclear if Dylan has seen the film, his praise meant everything to Chalamet, 28, who responded to the tweet from writing“Under. I am so grateful. Thank you Bob.’
The actor also posted a screenshot of Dylan’s tweet via his Instagram story on Thursday, December 5. “Screaming cry, laugh, scream laugh, poo, scream cry,” he wrote alongside the photo. “THANK YOU BOB!!!! A DREAM COME TRUE!!!!”
Chalamet stars as a younger version of the legendary musician in Complete obscuritywhich hits theaters on Christmas Day. The film follows Dylan from the beginning of his career in 1960s New York to his famous electric guitar performance of “Like a Rolling Stone” at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival.
Timothee Chalamet as Bob Dylan in Total Unknown.
Photos by Macall Polay/SearchlightDylan is not directly involved in the project, although he is the director James Mangold said Rolling Stone last month that she sat down with the singer-songwriter several times before filming began.
“Bob would have these one-liners that were so fantastic,” Chalamet told the outlet in a joint interview with Mangold, 60. “Jim has Bob’s annotated script lying around somewhere. I’ll ask him to get hold of it. He will never give it to me.”
From Jeremy Allen White’s upcoming Bruce Springsteen film to Timothée Chalamet showing off his Bob Dylan-like vocals in A Complete Unknown, music biopics seem to be everywhere. Yet, these movements are not a new phenomenon. Films centered around the lives of musical icons have captivated audiences for decades, since the 1980s. Coal Miner’s Daughter, for (…)
Mangold noted that he “felt like Bob just wanted to know what I was up to,” adding, “‘Who is this guy?’ Is he like a head? Does he understand it? “I think those are the normal questions that anyone asks themselves when they’re getting into an alliance with someone.”
Speaking of Apple Musicis Zane Lowe last month, Chalamet called playing Dylan on the big screen “the most unique challenge I’ve ever taken on,” especially because he sang and played guitar live on set.
Edward Norton and Timothee Chalamet in Total Unknown.
Photos by Macall Polay/Searchlight“It was ‘Woody’s Song,’ which is one of my favorite Bob Dylan songs,” he shared. “It was the first one we shot on film. You can’t do it on playback because it’s such an intimate scene. It is in a hospital room with Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger. And I did it live and it went great.”
He added: “I make a few mistakes on the guitar here and there, but you can fill them in afterwards. I went home and cried that night. Not to be dramatic, but this is a song I’ve lived with for years and something I can relate to deeply. And I also felt that I came back to that word often, I felt that it was the most worthy work that I had ever done.”
Complete obscurity opens in theaters on Wednesday, December 25.
