Ever since Timothée Chalamet’s Oscar-nominated performance in 2017’s Call Me By Your Name, the actor has been on a consistent and aggressively upward Hollywood trajectory. In his latest film, James Mangold’s A Complete Unknown, he portrays Bob Dylan not just with accuracy, but heart. It's arguably why critics are raving about Chalamet's performance. But the praise doesn’t stop there, as his castmates are still talking about the first time they heard him sing as Dylan. And, as CinemaBlend learned, they couldn’t tell the difference between the recordings from "Timmy" and Dylan himself.
Monica Barbaro, who you may know as Phoenix from Top Gun: Maverick, brilliantly portrays folk singer and Bob Dylan collaborator Joan Baez in the film. When I caught up with her to discuss A Complete Unknown, she told me about the first time she heard Timothée Chalamet as Dylan and how the voice was so close that it confused her while recording:
The first time I heard any version of Timmy as Bob Dylan was in the recording studio because we were doing pre-records and I was dueting to his voice. And there were a couple moments where I was like, 'Wait, sorry, is that Timmy or is that Bob?' And I was like, 'Holy shit.'
In this era of film where musical biopics are arguably at the height of their popularity as a genre, it must be difficult for such a performance to stand out. Despite this, Timothée Chalamet managed to pull off one of the best performances of his career, and the early chatter says that he’s the frontrunner for Best Actor at the 2025 Academy Awards.
The success surrounding the film itself shouldn’t be too surprising, as it could be argued that James Mangold helped ignite this musical biopic trend with his 2005 smash Walk the Line. Monica Barbaro herself is also receiving major awards buzz, and although she was shockingly denied a Golden Globe nomination for the film, she’s over the moon about their nominations in general. Nods for the big show are still to come, so we’ll see what The Academy thinks about Barbaro’s performance in January.
The At Midnight alum and Chalamet had to bring their all to the roles, as the love/hate relationship between their characters is a central part of the film. So, if they didn’t have such infectious chemistry, it would never have worked. Monica Barbaro felt this early on, as she said this about connecting with Chalamet and his voice via the aforementioned recordings, getting a leg up on shooting:
Before I ever met Timmy personally, I was just blown away by the work that that he was doing, and kind of was lucky to have had a little bit of an on-ramp to duetting with him before we were together and doing it in person.
It's hard not to appreciate two actors that are greatly committed to their craft. Honestly, I'd argue that we'll be talking about the performances that Timothée Chalamet, Monica Barbaro and their co-stars gave in James Mangold's latest film for years to come.
You can see A Complete Unknown in theaters right now! It may be one of the last great titles on the 2024 movie schedule. Also, with the year winding down, be sure to look ahead to the excellent 2025 film releases on the horizon.
