James Mangold Confirms Bob Dylan Gave Timothée Chalamet Notes on ‘A Complete Unknown’

Bob Dylan made his comments known for upcoming film “A Complete Unknown.”

The highly-anticipated feature, helmed by James Mangold, stars Timothée Chalamet as the “Tangled Up in Blue” folk icon. However, Mangold noted during the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast that the film is not a traditional biopic, but rather an ensemble period piece reminiscent of Robert Altman’s work.

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“By the way, it’s not really a Bob Dylan biopic,” Mangold said. “The reason Bob has been so supportive of us making it, is it’s about, as in all cases I think of the best true-life movies are never cradle to grave but they’re about a very specific moment. In this case, it might sound Altman-esque, but it’s a kind of ensemble piece about this moment in time, the early ’60s in New York, and this 17-year-old kid with $16 in his pockets hitchhikes his way to New York to meet Woody Guthrie who is in the hospital and is dying of a nerve disease.”

Mangold continued, “And he sings Woody a song that he wrote for him and befriends Pete Seeger, who is like a son to Woody, and Pete sets him up with gigs at local clubs and there you meet Joan Baez and all these other people who are part of this world, and this wanderer who comes in from Minnesota with a fresh name and a fresh outlook on life, becomes a star, signs to the biggest record company in the world within a year, and three years later, has record sales rivaling The Beatles.”

Dylan himself gave notes on the script, which Mangold said he now treasures. “I’ve spent several, wonderfully charming, days in his company, just one-on-one, talking to him,” the “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” director said. “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 “Copland.”‘”

“A Complete Unknown,” which was originally titled “Going Electric,” will center on the “upheaval in the folk community” as caused by Dylan’s disruptive sound, as Mangold explained.

“It all has tremendous relevance even now because of the way we are all so tribalized with rules about what our music should be, about what our rules are, how we speak, how we express ourselves,” he said. “And Bob from the beginning has always been someone who is always pressing against those boundaries.”

In addition to Chalamet, the film stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Elle Fanning, Boyd Holbrook, Monica Barbaro, and Nick Offerman. Chalamet will also sing Dylan’s songs in “A Complete Unknown.”

“It’s such an interesting true story and about such an interesting moment in the American scene,” Mangold said earlier this year, noting that “of course” Chalamet will sing onscreen.

Check out Mangold’s recent interview with IndieWire here.

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