James Mangold is entering the awards race at the perfect time with A Complete Unknown. The biopic, which follows the early stages of Bob Dylan’s career, has been making awards noise and is set to impress audiences this Christmas. Ahead of the film’s release, we had the chance to participate in a press conference with stars Timothée Chalamet, Monica Barbaro, Edward Norton, and more.

In my review of A Complete Unknown, I wrote that Chalamet blew me away by embodying the musical icon. Mangold crafted the film to make fans of Dylan happy while also introducing him to a new generation. Toss in the stunning cinematography, incredible ensemble, and great song selections, and A Complete Unknown was fantastic.

Timothée Chalamet in A Complete Unknown | image: Searchlight Pictures

James Mangold, Timothée Chalamet, Monica Barbaro, and Edward Norton discuss A Complete Unknown.

James Mangold brought to life the story of Johnny and June Cash with the Oscar-winning film Walk the Line. Mangold discovered a book that helped him bring the story of Bob Dylan to life. “It came about after discovering Elijah Wald’s incredible book Dylan Goes Electric!, which covered this time period and this convulsion of what happened in Newport 65 and what led up to it. Once Jay Cox and I began developing the script, it occurred to me that this fable should begin with Bob’s arrival in New York.”

“I found it almost like a fairy tale, this idea of a young man with no name with a few bucks in his pocket carrying a guitar case and Moleskine notebooks with scrawlings in it landing at the bedside of his hero in a hospital singing him his song. This story blows my mind, and to traverse that distance from that young man arriving to the point where he has become one of the most important cultural figures of the century.”

Timothée Chalamet found himself immersed in his portrayal of Bob Dylan. “The years I spent preparing for this role were unlike any other time. At some point, it stopped becoming work and became a process of osmosis and living in the material, living in the world of the sixties. When it came time to shoot with Edward Norton, Monica Barbaro, and Elle Fanning, we were constantly throwing around little facts or tidbits we found about these characters from the period.”

“At the same time, we weren’t academic about it, and that’s kudos to James Mangold. He really had his eye on the fact that this story, while it’s a fable, you want to listen to the real music, the legend that is Bob Dylan or the legend that is Joan Baez. We were humble interpreters trying to bring life to something very special that happened 60 or 70 years ago.”

Timothée Chalamet in Bob Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown | image: Searchlight Pictures

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Monica Barbaro plays the uber-talented Joan Baez and is pivotal in the foundation of James Mangold’s script. She talked about how the strike ended up helping her prepare more to step into the shoes of Baez: “When Jim cast me in the film, I had five months to learn to sing and play guitar, which didn’t feel like a long time. I was very anxious, and during the strike, we weren’t allowed to work with our coaches, but it was this time to take the training, process the work, be a little more solo with it, and try things on my own.”

“It was around this time when I started working on singing and playing at the same time, which was a whole other level of musical proficiency that I did not have and did not understand. I know the strike was intense for many people, but I did feel lucky to have it and benefited from the little extra time to work on Joan, which was big shoes to fill.”

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Edward Norton isn’t unfamiliar with playing instruments, nor with Pete Seeger or Bob Dylan. “I marinated in the Church of Bob my whole adult life, and when you come up in New York City in theater, Peter Seeger was a paragon. He was a folk singer who cleaned up the Hudson River.” While Norton mentioned being a guitar player, the banjo was a new instrument for him to learn. “I think playing the guitar is easy for me, but learning to play the banjo was hard. That said, it was a lot of fun to learn.”

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Elle Fanning plays Sylvie, who is based on Suze Rotolo. Rotolo isn’t a household name, but Fanning read her book, A Free Wheelin’ Time, and it helped her prepare for the role: “I was conscious of wanting to make her someone more than just the girlfriend. She’s not an accessory in this situation, as she was a huge inspiration to Bob. She brought him into politics and encouraged him to sing his own music. When reading Jim’s script, I cared so much for her on the page, and her emotions jumped out at me. I wanted to do justice by honoring Suze and Bob’s relationship.”

A Complete Unknown hits theaters on Christmas.
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