Kimberly Aguirre | (TNS) Los Angeles Times
After more than a year of on-set paparazzi set photos and red carpet interview fodder, Searchlight Pictures released the teaser trailer for director James Mangold’s Bob Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown” on Wednesday.
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Aside from showing his physical transformation into the music icon, it offered a quick sample of his singing voice. The actor sings Dylan’s 1963 anti-war song “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall,” dividing the internet, much like his casting announcement did.
“Stranger Things” star and Dylan superfan Jamie Campbell Bower posted on X to share his support for Chalamet.
“As a man who has Bob Dylan tattooed on his butt cheeks I can safely say I am VERY excited about Chalamet as Dylan after seeing that trailer,” Bower wrote.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, director and co-writer Mangold lauded Chalamet’s acting and ability to embody Dylan.
“There were also moments where it felt like something was getting channeled,” he said. “I don’t mean in mimicry. I mean in feeling.”
Chalamet fan account Club Chalamet shared its support for the star on X.
“Oscar pundits, start adding Timothée Chalamet to your predictions! Wow!” the fan page wrote.
Some users were not entirely convinced by the “Dune” star’s singing.
“I’m sorry but that is just not bob dylan. that is timothee chalamet,” one user wrote.
Another user echoed the same sentiment.
“The singing is fine but then he starts speaking and I’m like that’s literally just timothee,” the account wrote. “Not moving.”
Chalamet says only a few words in the trailer. “That’s all I got so far,” he utters after playing “A Hard Rain” for his family.
In his interview with Rolling Stone, Mangold made it clear that Chalamet didn’t strive to mimic Dylan.
“There’s sometimes a perception out there that what we’re doing is about a perfect replication of a human voice and physicality. We can’t do that. Not with human bodies,” he said. “What you have to be trying to do is to do what movies do well, which is to unpack the emotional dynamic of these people. And even then, it’s just my version of it.”
Mangold is no stranger to music biopics. 2005’s “Walk the Line” saw Joaquin Phoenix take on the role of country singer Johnny Cash, ultimately earning him an Academy Award nomination. Phoenix also did his own singing for the movie.
Mangold says the teaser is just a start. Viewers will need to see the full movie to appreciate Chalamet’s performance.
“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,” Mangold said.
“I like this,” one X user said about the trailer. “It reminds me of how Joaquin Phoenix didn’t sound exactly like @JohnnyCash but sounded good.”
“Timothée Chalamet sings Bob Dylan without imitating Bob Dylan but being someone who shows his vulnerability and is masterfully able to convey emotions,” another user posted. “I’m on my knees.”
“A Complete Unknown” isn’t Chalamet’s first foray into musicals. Last year, Chalamet played the titular Willy Wonka in the origin story “Wonka” — set before the events of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.”
“A Complete Unknown,” which arrives in theaters in December, follows the career of the folk icon, opening on the singer’s 1961 arrival in New York City from Minnesota. Monica Barbaro plays Joan Baez, Elle Fanning depicts Sylvie Russo and Edward Norton is Pete Seeger in the movie. Boyd Holbrook, P. J. Byrne, Scoot McNairy, Dan Fogler and Will Harrison round out the cast.
The film is one of several music biopics bowing in the next few years, including movies about Bruce Springsteen, the Beatles, Linda Ronstadt and Michael Jackson.
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