When they set out to make a movie about Bob Dylan, it was clear to every creative involved that the songs had to be performed live. Even Timothée Chalamet, the actor playing Dylan, agreed.

“It was important for me to sing and play it on set because it was in the spirit of the movie to do it live,” Chalamet said in a featurette about A Complete Unknown. To do this, Chalamet needed to emulate Dylan as a performer, from his vocals and stage presence to his guitar playing and harmonica abilities.

“He [Chalamet] learns the entire thing top to bottom,” said music supervisor Steven Gizicki. “That’s harmonica and guitar and vocal. It’s pretty special.”

Directed by James Mangold, A Complete Unknown begins with a 19-year-old Dylan moving to New York City from Minnesota in the early 1960s. The West Village is where Dylan made a name for himself as a gifted singer and songwriter. Dylan became a pivotal member of the folk movement, as his songs became rallying cries not just for people, but for social causes.

“His genius is in the power of his songs and personality ends up elevating him until he’s bigger than the movement he was taken into,” Mangold said.

Chalamet admires Dylan’s refusal to be “boxed in” as an artist. No better example of Dylan’s fearlessness is his decision to switch from acoustic to electric instruments at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. This controversial decision is one of the moments that shaped the future of rock music.

“Many of the artists through American pop culture that had the balls to turn their back on what was expected of them, that moment started with Bob,” Chalamet added.

Besides Chalamet, A Complete Unknown stars Edward Norton, Elle Fanning, Monica Barbaro, Boyd Holbrook, Norbert Leo Butz, Dan Fogler, and Scoot McNairy.

A Complete Unknown opens in theaters on December 25, 2024.