Timothée Chalamet Revealed Whether or Not He Did His Own Singing in 'A Complete Unknown'
"It was important for me to sing and play live," the actor said of performing in the Bob Dylan biopic.
Question: Is there anything Timothée Chalamet can't do?
Answer: Apparently not.
The 28-year-old star has built an impressively cross-genre resumé as an actor, effortlessly bouncing between period dramas like Little Women, science fiction epics like Dune, and even family-friendly fantasy films about iconic characters like Wonka.
In his latest film, the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown, Chalamet tackles playing a real-life icon of the music industry. The film focuses on Dylan's life in the 1960s as he gained notoriety in music circles and rose to fame—and yes, the movie includes some of Dylan's iconic songs from the era.
In a featurette for the film that Entertainment Weekly shared in November, A Complete Unknown producer Fred Berger definitively confirmed that, not only does Chalamet sing for his performance as Dylan in the movie, but he also played instruments and performed live while filming the scenes with songs for the movie.
"There are 40 songs in the movie that he performs," Berger said, according to Entertainment Weekly. "On guitar, on harmonica, and singing live take after take after take."
In a clip from the featurette that was shared on YouTube, Chalamet also opened up about the musical side of his performance as Dylan.
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"It was important for me to sing and play live," Chalamet added. "Because if I can actually do it, why should there be an element of artifice here? And I’m proud that we took that leap."
According to a complete list of songs in the film shared by Deadline, Chalamet is listed as a performer on all of the following in the film:
- “Sing to Woody” Performed by Timothée Chalamet, Written by Bob Dylan
- “Girl From the North Country” Performed by Timothée Chalamet, Written by Bob Dylan
- “Fixin’ to Die” Written by Booker T. Washington, Performed by Timothée Chalamet
- “I Was Young When I Left Home” Performed by Timothée Chalamet, Written by Bob Dylan
- “All Over You” Performed by Timothée Chalamet, Written by Bob Dylan
- “Blowin’ in the Wind” Performed by Timothée Chalamet, Written by Bob Dylan
- “Masters of War” Performed by Timothée Chalamet, Written by Bob Dylan
- “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” Performed by Timothée Chalamet, Written by Bob Dylan
- “Blowin’ in the Wind” Performed by Timothée Chalamet and Monica Barbaro, Written by Bob Dylan
- “The Death of Emmett Till” Performed by Timothée Chalamet, Written by Bob Dylan
- “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” Performed by Timothée Chalamet and Monica Barbaro, Written by Bob Dylan
- “Girl From the North Country” Performed by Timothée Chalamet and Monica Barbaro, Written by Bob Dylan
- “House of the Rising Sun” Performed by Timothée Chalamet, Arranged by Bob Dylan
- “Only Pawn in Their Game” Performed by Timothée Chalamet, Written by Bob Dylan
- “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” Written by Bob Dylan, Performed by Timothée Chalamet
- “The Times They Are A-Changin’” Written by Bob Dylan, Performed by Timothée Chalamet
- “Puff, The Magic Dragon” Written by Leonard Lipton and Peter Yarrow, Performed by Timothée Chalamet
- “When the Ship Comes In” Written by Bob Dylan, Performed by Timothée Chalamet and Edward Norton
- “I’ll Keep It With Mine” Written by Bob Dylan, Performed by Timothée Chalamet
- “Like a Rolling Stone” Written by Bob Dylan and Performed by Timothée Chalamet
- “Subterranean Homesick Blues” Written by Bob Dylan and Performed by Timothée Chalamet
- “Highway 61 Revisited” Written by Bob Dylan, Performed by Timothée Chalamet
- “It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry” Written by Bob Dylan, Performed by Timothée Chalamet
- “It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)” Written by Bob Dylan, Performed by Timothée Chalamet
- “Gates of Eden” Written by Bob Dylan, Performed by Timothée Chalamet
- All I Really Want To Do” Written by Bob Dylan, Performed by Timothée Chalamet and Monica Barbaro
- “Railroad Bill” Arranged by Bob Dylan, Performed by Timothée Chalamet and Will Harrison
- “Mr. Tambourine Man” Written by Bob Dylan, Performed by Timothée Chalamet
- “It Ain’t Me Babe” Written by Bob Dylan, Performed by Timothée Chalamet and Monica Barbaro
- “Mama, You Been on My Mind” Written by Bob Dylan, Performed by Timothée Chalamet and Monica Barbaro
- “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” Written by Bob Dylan, Performed by Timothée Chalamet
- “Maggie’s Farm” Written by Bob Dylan, Performed by Timothée Chalamet
- “Dusty Old Dust (So Long It’s Been Good To Know Yuh)” Written by Woody Guthrie, Performed by Watt White and Timothée Chalamet
Dylan himself even gave Chalamet his seal of approval in a tweet about the film earlier this month.
"There’s a movie about me opening soon called A Complete Unknown (what a title!). Timothee Chalamet is starring in the lead role. Timmy’s a brilliant actor so I’m sure he’s going to be completely believable as me," the 83-year-old musician wrote. "Or a younger me. Or some other me. The film’s taken from Elijah Wald’s Dylan Goes Electric – a book that came out in 2015. It’s a fantastic retelling of events from the early ‘60s that led up to the fiasco at Newport. After you’ve seen the movie read the book."
There’s a movie about me opening soon called A Complete Unknown (what a title!). Timothee Chalamet is starring in the lead role. Timmy’s a brilliant actor so I’m sure he’s going to be completely believable as me. Or a younger me. Or some other me. The film’s taken from Elijah…December 4, 2024
Kayleigh Roberts is a freelance writer and editor with over 10 years of professional experience covering entertainment of all genres, from new movie and TV releases to nostalgia, and celebrity news. Her byline has appeared in Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Harper’s Bazaar, The Atlantic, Allure, Entertainment Weekly, MTV, Bustle, Refinery29, Girls’ Life Magazine, Just Jared, and Tiger Beat, among other publications. She's a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
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