Summary

Collider’s Perri Nemiroff speaks with A Complete Unknown stars Timothée Chalamet and Elle Fanning.

In this interview, Chalamet and Fanning discuss embodying their characters and Chalamet talks about training for five years for his portrayal.

The duo also discusses working with director James Mangold and how he fosters an environment for the cast to bring out their best performances in the movie.

It’s nearly impossible to find two larger stars than the top-billed performers of A Complete Unknown, Timothée Chalamet and Elle Fanning. After last year’s magical turn as Roald Dahl’s beloved chocolatier in Wonka, followed by Lisan al-Gaib himself, Paul Atreides in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two, Chalamet steps into his largest non-fiction role to date, portraying singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. No stranger to non-fiction, Fanning is arguably best known for playing Catherine the Great in the award-winning series The Great, while also bringing a literal Disney princess to life in the Maleficent franchise. Now, the two stars reunite for the first time since 2019’s A Rainy Day in New York to bring eclectic troubadour Dylan’s life to the silver screen.
Directed by Walk The Line’s James Mangold, A Complete Unknown follows four years in the life of iconic musician Bob Dylan (Chalamet), starting from his folk roots in Minnesota and New York City to his explosive 1965 performance at the Newport Folk Festival, where Dylan premieres an electric new sound. In the movie, Fanning is a Greenwich Village artist, Sylvie Russo, and Dylan’s love interest through those years. The film co-stars Edward Norton (Glass Onion) as Dylan’s mentor and musician, Pete Seeger, Monica Barbaro (Top Gun: Maverick) as Joan Baez, and Scoot McNairy as Woody Guthrie.
Collider’s own Perri Nemiroff had the pleasure of sitting down with Chalamet and Fanning to discuss their roles in A Complete Unknown. In this interview, they talk about how Mangold creates an environment to bring the best out of the actor, bringing one’s self to a role, watching each other succeed together as friends, and capturing pivotal moments on-screen. You can watch the full conversation in the video above or read the transcript below.
Timothée Chalamet “Stayed as Close to the Visual Material” as Possible for Bob Dylan

“I never really thought about bringing myself to it.”

Image Via Searchlight Pictures

PERRI NEMIROFF: I know the two of you have worked together before, and that you’ve known each other for a good while, so I’m curious, on this particular set, can you each tell me something you saw the other do that made even you stop and go, “Damn, I knew you were good, but I never realized you were capable of that?”
TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET: There was a scene we were just talking about, and the last thing we were doing was Bob, who I’m playing in the movie, is saying goodbye to Sylvie, who Elle is playing. I don’t want to say too much, hopefully people go see the movie, but Elle’s acting in that scene is extraordinary. But I can’t say it surprised me in the sense that I really believe Elle is one of the best actors/actresses working today. She’s really phenomenal and very generous as an actor, too. Case in point: that scene. We were so lucky to have her in this movie.
ELLE FANNING: Well, I could say the same about you. I feel the same way. I knew that Timothée was going to be incredible. Hearing that he was going to play Bob Dylan, I was like, “100%. Yes.” You are brilliant, and I knew that you would bring it. I think it’s a different experience getting to be up close and seeing the transformation on set. It’s just a different feeling, and it was very moving to me watching a friend. I felt so proud of you. I know how hard you worked for five years training for this and how important, so there are a lot of emotions mixed up in that.
But I was thinking about this the other day when you come to Sylvie’s apartment, and you say the line, “Everyone’s wondering why the songs don’t come to them.” I remember on the day, you actually did so many different reads and so many different versions of that, but it’s really when we get to see Bob the most vulnerable in the movie and honest. I was very happy that I was a part of that moment and receiving that because I could see it’s Bob, but it’s you, and it was brilliant.

I’ll jump off that idea because one thing I was reading in our press notes caught my eye. James said, “I didn’t want Timmy to disappear. It’s a performance. I wanted Timmy to bring who he is to Bob.” So, it was making me wonder at what point, either in prep or on set, did you either do something or think of something that made you say to yourself, “I have found who my Bob needs to be for me as an actor and for this movie that we’re making?”
CHALAMET: I don’t know if I ever really did. I mean that honestly in the sense that I really was pushing myself to the limit of Bob Dylan. I really stayed as close to the visual material available, like Don’t Look Back or No Direction Home, or the little bit of stuff you can find online that’s prior to that, ‘61 and ‘63. So, I never really thought about bringing myself to it, probably ever, truthfully. Obviously, Jim, who was the master Jedi here, might have been aware of it in a sense, but I really was being, hopefully, as Bob Dylan as I could be.

Related

You Won’t Believe How Timothée Chalamet Sounds in New ‘A Complete Unknown’ Trailer

The movie will open on December 25.

James Mangold Created Space for His Cast to “Bring the Best”

“He picked what he thought to be true.”

Elle, one particular beat I wanted to make sure to ask you about — and it might be me overthinking it because it’s just a reaction shot, but it’s a reaction shot that essentially has to carry the weight of her entire journey in the movie. It’s when Bob and Joan are doing “It Ain’t Me Babe” at the festival. When you have to prepare for a reaction shot, what do you need to do to get there so that it reflects the entirety of their relationship and what that particular moment means for her then and her future?
FANNING: We’ve been building up to these moments throughout filming, and I shot that relatively close to my end of filming. Well, actually, no, because we shot a lot of the apartment at the end, but that’s moviemaking. It was my only scene that I had with Monica [Barbaro]. We share, like, one glance, but it doesn’t feel like, “We’re going to do your reaction shot now.” Jim creates a space and environment for you to just bring the best out of you, and so, really, it’s him. They were performing, for me, the song all the way through. So, there’s a lot of footage of me watching him, but he picked what he thought to be true.
A Complete Unknown opens in theaters on December 25.

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At the Newport Folk Festival in 1965, a young Bob Dylan shakes up his act on the folk music scene by going electric and siring rock as the voice of a generation – defining one of the most transformative moments in 20th century music.

Cast

Timothée Chalamet
, Edward Norton
, Elle Fanning
, Monica Barbaro
, Nick Offerman
, Boyd Holbrook
, P.J. Byrne
, Scoot McNairy
, Dan Fogler
, Will Harrison
, Charlie Tahan
, Jon Gennari
, Norbert Leo Butz

Distributor(s)

Searchlight Pictures

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