“Timmy is a brilliant actor”: Bob Dylan supports his biopic, he even invented a scene

Edward Norton, who also plays in A Perfect Stranger, by James Mangold, recounts a “note” given by the singer about his own life.

“A film about me is coming out soon, called A Complete Unknown (what a title!), tease Bob Dylan on X. Timothée Chalamet plays the main role. Timmy is a brilliant actor, so I’m sure he will be completely believable in my role. Or in my younger self. Or another me. The film is based on Dylan Goes Electric by Elijah Wald, a book published in 2015. It is a fantastic account of the events of the early 1960s that led to the Newport fiasco. After watching the movie, read the book.”

At the moment when the American press begins to discover A complete stranger and to praise the film of James Mangoldthe artist who inspired this project is undoubtedly the best placed to advertise it… Bob Dylan was directly approached by the director of Walk the Line And Le Mans 66when he wanted to tell the story of his early career in New York. Rolling Stones recently met part of the team: Mangold surrounded by his actors Timothée Chalamet, Edward Norton (who plays banjo player Pete Seeger) and Elle Fanning (Sylvie), and they told how the interpreter of “Blowing in the Wind” had initially refused to get involved in this feature film retracing part of his life. Before letting himself be convinced by the filmmaker… and even inventing an anecdote from scratch!

Timothée Chalamet sings Bob Dylan live in behind-the-scenes video from the biopic

“I had the impression that Bob wanted to know what I was doingMangold detailed to the magazine to justify his meetings with the music star so that she could validate script elements. Who is this guy? Is this trash? Does he understand? I think these are the normal questions you ask yourself when you embark on an affair with someone. “

Chalamet goes on to explain that the director ofA complete stranger obtained a copy of the script annotated by Bob Dylan himself:

“Bob had some unique lines that were so fantastic! Jim has a script annotated by Bob lying around somewhere. I’m begging him to get my hands on it, but he’ll never give it to me…”

However, we know of some modifications requested directly by the artist, such as the change of name of his girlfriend from the early 1960s, Suze Rotolo, who becomes Sylvie Russo on screen in the guise of Elle Fanning.

“He was a very private person who did not ask to live this life, says the young actress. She was obviously someone very special and very sacred to Bob.”

What other changes did Dylan request from Mangold? Edward Norton laughingly reveals that there is at least one completely made-up scene in the film, at the request of Bob himself. When the director was concerned about the public’s reaction to this inaccurate anecdote, Bob reportedly replied: “What do you care what other people think?”and the passage would therefore have remained in the film.

“Bob has an obvious pleasure in blurring the lines and distorting reality,” concludes the actor. “He’s such a troublemaker.”

Monica Barbaro rounds out the cast as Joan Baez, Scoot McNairy is Woody Guthrie, Dan Fogler plays Albert Grossman and Boyd Hollbrook plays Johnny Cash. A deliberate choice on the part of James Mangold, who did not wish to call on Joaquin Phoenix again after Walk the Line.

Here is the trailer forA complete strangerexpected in cinemas on January 29:

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