Why Timothée Chalamet Says He Didn't Use a Cell Phone for 3 Months While Filming Bob Dylan BiopicA Complete Unknown

Mar. 15, 2025

Timothée Chalamet as Bob Dylan inA Complete Unknown(2024); Bob Dylan in the late ’60s.Photo:Searchlight Pictures; Bettmann/Getty

Searchlight Pictures; Bettmann/Getty

Timothée Chalametimmersed himself in the time period to playBob DylaninA Complete Unknown.

In a recently resurfaced interview on theThis Past Weekend w/ Theo Vonpodcast, the 29-year-oldAcademy Awardnominee said he’d “never had his phone off the entire movie” while filming projects in the past, before the Dylan biopic.

“I had three months to play this guy, and then the rest of my life, I never get to play him again. So I was locked in,” said Chalamet during the interview, which was released in December 2024.

For the actor, the challenges were worth the tradeoff ofgetting to step into the shoesof someone he respects and admires so deeply.

“You never want to say you’re competitive, but there’s been a lot of music biopics, and I wanted to do a great f—ing job. I love Bob Dylan,” Chalamet, who is Academy Award-nominated for his acclaimed performance, said. “None of this is for granted.”

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Timothée Chalamet as Bob Dylan and Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez inA Complete Unknown(2024).TheImageDirect.com

TheImageDirect.com

Chalamet previously opened up abouthis process in playing Dylan, now 83, in his December 2024Rolling Stonecover story.

“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," he said. “I had three months of my lifeto 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,” the actor continued. “God forbid I missed a step because I was being Timmy. I could be Timmy for the rest of my life!”

Chalamet added of playing the legendary folk singer, “I had to push the preparation, the bounds, almost to psychologicallyknowI had pushed it.”

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Timothée Chalamet in London on Feb. 14, 2024; Bob Dylan circa 1966.Jeff Spicer/Getty; Roy Cummings/THA/Shutterstock

Jeff Spicer/Getty; Roy Cummings/THA/Shutterstock

In an interview for60 Minutesreleased Sunday, Feb. 16, Chalamet said he “Never approached a character so intensely as” the"Mr. Tambourine Man"singer.

" ‘Cause I had such respect for the material, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I remembered that I was lazy on a day where something went wrong,” he added.

A Complete Unknownis in theaters.

source: people.com