Timothée Chalamet Says He Learned From Christian Bail When It Comes to Going to Extremes to Play Bob Dylan

Timothée Chalamet as Bob Dylan
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Timothée Chalamet took his role as Bob Dylan very seriously, and his co-stars supported this.

In a new interview, co-star Edward Norton opened up about seeing Chalamet's process into playing the iconic singer-songwriter in the highly anticipated Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown.

"He was relentless. No visitors, no friends, no reps, no nothing. 'Nobody comes around us while we're doing this.' We're trying to do the best we can with something that's so totemic and sacrosanct to many people," Norton told Rolling Stone.

"And I agreed totally — it was like, we cannot have a f---ing audience for this. We've got to believe to the greatest degree we can. And he was right to be that protective," he continued.

While speaking to the publication, Chalamet said that he took cues from Christian Bale, who is known for his method acting, to help him play Dylan.

"It was something I would go to sleep panicked about: losing a moment of discovery as the character — no matter how pretentious that sounds — because I was on my phone or because of any distraction," Chalamet shared.

"I had three months of my life to play Bob Dylan, after five years of preparing to play him. So while I was in it, that was my eternal focus. He deserved that and then more.... God forbid I missed a step because I was being Timmy. I could be Timmy for the rest of my life!" the actor added.

In order to perfect his role, Chalamet spent five years learning how to play the harmonica in the way Dylan was able to.

Chalamet sat down with Apple Music's Zane Lowe to reveal that he had to learn to play 13 of Dylan's iconic songs for the movie. To nail the songs, he had to work with a harmonica coach for 5 years.

"It was the best experience I've had as an actor or the most rewarding experience I've had doesn't really necessarily translate to the effect of it, not only on people, but maybe in the finished product because I've also had more challenging experiences that come out great," Chalamet said of the experience.

"I'm happy it took five, six years because I am now deep in that Church of Bob. I feel like that's my mission is the next three months, until the movie comes out, I feel like I'm in the Church of Bob, I'm a humble disciple, and I feel like I got this opportunity to kind of be a bridge to this music or this period, this time period," he added.

Chalamet went on to say that he was not just trying to imitate Dylan's voice.

"This is interpretive. This is not definitive. This is not fact. This is not how it happened. This is a fable," he said.

A Complete Unknown hits theaters on Dec. 25.

Tags
Timothée Chalamet, Bob Dylan
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