Elle Fanning Says She 'Teared Up' Watching Timothée Chalamet Sing as Bob Dylan for First Time inA Complete Unknown

Mar. 15, 2025

Elle Fanning at The Wrap’s 2024 WrapWomen Power Women Summit in Beverly Hills, California, on Dec. 3, 2024; Timothée Chalamet as Bob Dylan inA Complete Unknown(2024).Photo:Emma McIntyre/Getty; TheImageDirect.com

Emma McIntyre/Getty; TheImageDirect.com

Elle Fanningwas moved to tears seeingTimothée Chalametsing asBob Dylanfor the first time on the set of their upcoming filmA Complete Unknown.

“Timothée’s so extraordinary in the movie,” Elle said, recalling of her first day on set, ‘‘I was an audience member and he sang ‘A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall.’ But he came out and he actuallygave us a full-on concert, like as Bob Dylan."

“I remember tearing up … he’s a friend of mine [and we’ve] worked together before,” she continued, likely referencing their costarring time inWoody Allen’s 2019 filmA Rainy Day in New York.

“And so seeing him accomplish this and this character in such a beautiful way [was moving],” added Elle, who plays Sylvie Russo — a character based on the real-lifeSuze Rotolo, Dylan’s girlfriend and muse during the early 1960s — inA Complete Unknown.

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Elle Fanning as Sylvie Russo and Timothée Chalamet as Bob Dylan inA Complete Unknown(2024).TheImageDirect.com

TheImageDirect.com

Elle also noted that Chalamet, 28, doesn’t give a performance as “a caricature of Bob Dylan” — which is saying something, considering she is “a real big Bob Dylan fan, and I have been for a long time.”

“I really was. I wasn’t allowed to have posters on my wall because of the wallpaper in my room, but I had a cork board and it was all Bob Dylan,” she explained. “And so, I was a harsh critic. I was like, ‘What is Timmy gonna do?’ And he just blew me away … it’s a realblend of him and Bob.”

A Complete Unknownfeatures Chalamet as a young Dylan, now 83, at the start of his professional music career, and covers the iconic folk rocker’s revolutionary impact in the ’60s.

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From L: Timothée Chalamet as Bob Dylan inA Complete Unknown(2024); Bob Dylan in the late 1960s.Searchlight Pictures ; Bettmann

Searchlight Pictures ; Bettmann

On Monday, Dec. 2, Chalamet received The Gotham Film & Media Institute’s Visionary Tribute honor at this year’sGotham Awardsfor his work inA Complete Unknown, alongside Mangold, 60.

“I promised myself I’d keep it short and sweet because Bob Dylan was a man of few words,” began Chalamet, who went on to thank his collaborators inhis acceptance speech. “I’m looking out here and I see a lot of people that have helped shape the man I’m becoming, the artist I’m becoming, all sitting right here.”

“I’m grateful to everyone who poured themselves into this project,” theOscarnominee continued. “Getting to study and immerse myself in the world of Bob Dylan has been the greatest education a young artist could receive.”

“If you’re already a fan of Bob Dylan, this will make perfect sense to you. And if you’re not familiar with his work, perhaps our film can serve as a humble gateway to one of the great poets and chroniclers of our times,” Chalamet added.

A Complete Unknownis in theaters Dec. 25.

source: people.com