Elle Fanning found herself let down when meeting her co-star Timothée Chalamet for the first time during the production of the Bob Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown.
Fanning, who plays Dylan’s girlfriend Sylvie Russo in the film, was initially thrilled by the prospect of meeting the legendary folk singer himself.
When director James Mangold invited her to meet ‘Bob’ during pre-production, Fanning, a longtime Dylan fan, obsessed over the idea of meeting her idol.
‘I was thinking about all these things to say and ask,’ she told Rolling Stone. ‘I was picking out my outfit [and thinking] “I’m meeting Bob Dylan today!”‘
Her excitement quickly changed to confusion when she arrived to find Timothee, in character as the legendary folk singer, there instead.
‘I’m probably the first person in life to be let down by having a rehearsal with Timothée Chalamet, right? Like, the first girl in history,’ Fanning quipped.
This definitely wasn’t the only mix up on set, as Chalamet’s unrelenting commitment to his role as Dylan meant he was almost always in character while filming.
The actor immersed himself so deeply into the character that his name even appeared as ‘Bob Dylan’ on the film’s call sheets.
Chalamet’s preparation for A Complete Unknown was pretty extreme from beginning to end.
The actor isolated himself entirely for three months: ‘No visitors, no friends, no reps, no nothing,’ he said.
“It sounds pretentious,” he admitted to Rolling Stone, ‘but panic fueled me. I didn’t want to lose a moment of discovery as the character because of my phone or any distraction, so while I was in it, that was my eternal focus.’
Edward Norton, who portrays folk music icon Pete Seeger in the film, defended Chalamet’s approach to the magazine.
‘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,’ Norton said.
Actress Monica Barbaro, who plays Joan Baez, another of Dylan’s real-life romantic partners, noted that while Chalamet’s method acting didn’t create an overly tense atmosphere, it required adjustments.
‘It wasn’t so full-on,’ Barbaro said. ‘It wasn’t “Don’t look him in the eye” or anything like that.’
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Barbaro revealed that during filming, Chalamet’s Dylan accent would occasionally falter when they chatted off-script.
To avoid compromising the character’s authenticity, the pair agreed to keep casual conversations to a minimum. ‘At that point, I think we both were just like, “Nope, no more talking!”‘
Chalamet thinks his commitment to the role was worth it in the end: ‘I had three months of my life to play Bob Dylan, after five years of preparing to play him,’ he said.
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‘God forbid I missed a step because I was being Timmy. I could be Timmy for the rest of my life!’
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