Timothée Chalamet reminisced this week about a peculiar encounter with his agent who once advised him to bulk up. While the suggestion seemed odd at the time, those memories served as a crucial preparation for his role as Bob Dylan in James Mangold's forthcoming film, A Complete Unknown.
"If I had auditioned for The Maze Runner or Divergent, those dystopian dramas that were all the rage when I was coming up, the feedback would always be, 'You don't have the right body type,'" Chalamet shared with Zane Lowe in an interview released on Tuesday. "I remember my agent calling me and saying, 'You need to put on some weight,' not aggressively, but you know the drill."
Though he might not have ended up as the leading man in any of those teenage dystopian dramas that dominated the 2010s, Chalamet's career has turned out remarkably well. As he gears up for the release of A Complete Unknown next month, the actor revealed that his journey felt somewhat akin to Dylan's.
"I've had my own life experiences, and while I wouldn't call them weird, I can certainly relate to some of the challenges Bob faced," Chalamet said. "Bob aspired to be a rock 'n' roll star, influenced by Buddy Holly, Little Richard, and Elvis Presley — the kind of music that was, depending on your perspective, the crispy, marketed pop rock that captivated kids in the late '50s. Similarly, I wanted to be a major movie star."
Chalamet, akin to the highly popular folk musician, eventually realized that he needed to build his career based on what spoke to him personally. "I discovered my niche in those deeply personal films," the Dune actor said. "For Bob, it was folk music. He couldn't sustain a rock 'n' roll band because they were all hired away by richer kids in Minnesota. For me, it was finding movies that resonated with me personally — Call Me By Your Name, Beautiful Boy, Lady Bird, Little Women, Miss Stevens, Hot Summer Nights. These were smaller-budget films, but incredibly... I don't know how else to put it... intimate movies that premiered in theaters. That's where I found my rhythm, my confidence, my stride."
Elsewhere in the interview, Chalamet revealed that he worked with a harmonica coach for half a decade before taking on the role. Following that, he retraced Dylan's footsteps through Chicago, Madison, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, where the musician was born.
Despite undergoing extensive and rigorous training, Chalamet underscored that the film wasn't a meticulous recreation of Dylan's life. "This is an interpretation," he clarified. "It's not definitive, nor is it factual. It's not a recount of what actually transpired; rather, it's a fable." Marking its release on Christmas Day, 'A Complete Unknown' is poised to captivate audiences in theaters.
