Joan Baez has shared the tip she would’ve given Timothée Chalamet ahead of his portrayal of Bob Dylan in the Oscar-nominated biopic A Complete Unknown.
Chalamet, 29, led James Mangold’s 2024 music drama as the Nobel Prize-winning singer-songwriter, during the period when he controversially “went electric.” His portrayal of Dylan earned him a Best Actor nomination at the March ceremony.
Monica Barbaro also starred in the movie as Baez, alongside Edward Norton as prominent folk singer Pete Seeger and Elle Fanning as Dylan’s love interest, real-life artist Suze Rotolo, renamed in the movie to Sylvie Russo.
In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Baez, 84, recalled screening the movie for the first time in theaters with a group of friends, despite being offered a private viewing.
Giving her review of the movie, she praised the music as “brilliant,” adding that while she thought Chalamet did a “good job,” he was “a bit too squeaky clean.”
Baez noted that she “could have clued him in on that one.” Asked if she meant Chalamet’s appearance wasn’t dirty enough, she replied: “That is correct. But then, that was part of the charm, I’m sure. The unwashed phenomenon.”
She further revealed that people “in her camp” were initially “outraged” and “fact-checking” the film.
“And I said, ‘Don’t bother.’ It’s a fun movie. Certainly got a feeling of the Village,” she said, clarifying that she “never lived in the Village.”
“The only time was that short period of time with Bob. And it wasn’t the Chelsea Hotel, it was the Earle. But details, details, see what I mean?” Baez continued. “Someone said, ‘Did you really do that to Bob?’ [Flashes a middle finger.] I said, ‘No, I did this.’ [Flashes both middle fingers.] But I was pleased they were getting the feeling right.”
As for what the movie got right about Dylan, the folk music legend confirmed: “Oh, a lot. A lot of the movement, facial movement, talking, even some of the singing. The attitude. I mean, a bad attitude.”
Baez and Dylan dated briefly in the early 1960s, just as they were establishing themselves in the world of folk music. Decades after their breakup, Baez reflected on their relationship, describing it as “totally demoralizing.”
“We were in our early 20s. We were stupid, and you can’t blame somebody forever,” she told People in 2023.
Later speaking to The Independent, Baez admitted: “I always felt below him.
“He was ‘the dude’, and I was kind of... It’s true! I mean, I was so infatuated with him and the music that I was... always looking up.”
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