Bob Dylan’s real involvement in his new film A Complete Stranger

The biopic chronicles a specific period in the musician’s life and his team’s concerns led him to at least want to know what was going on

A complete strangernew movie about Bob Dylanit is not an official project of the artist and his team. With direction from James Mangold (Logan, Ford versus Ferrari), the film tells only a specific period of the musician’s story — and its makers even avoid the term “biopic.”

However, there was involvement on Dylan’s part. He did not have the final say on any element of the work, but contributed to its development.

Peter Jaysen, one of the producers, said in an interview with The city (go NME) that the folk icon doesn’t just read the screenplay alongside James Mangoldhow he came to act like himself. The newspaper was Timothée Chalamet (Dune, Wonka, Interstellar etc.).

Jaysen says:

“Him [Bob Dylan] he met James Mangold several times. At one point, they sat down together and read the entire script aloud, with James Mangold reading each part and pointing to the caption, while Bob Dylan read his character’s lines of dialogue. During this process, Dylan wrote notes on the script. At the end of the last session with James Mangold, he signed the script and said, ‘go with God’.”

The curiosity had already been revealed, albeit without the same details, by Chalamet. In an interview with Rolling Stone USAthe protagonist said:

“James Mangold has an annotated Bob Dylan script somewhere. I’ll beg him to get his hands on it. He’ll never give it to me.”

Mangold, who participated in the same interview, added the reasons why Dylan wanted to be involved:

“I felt like Bob just wanted to know what I was doing. Like, ‘Who is this guy? Is he an asshole? Does he get the story?’ I think these are the normal questions anyone asks when they get involved with someone else.”

Bob Dylan “with nothing to do”

THE Variety, James Mangold having said that Bob Dylan I wanted to know more A complete stranger for a curious reason. In his words, the musician had “nothing to do at the moment” due to the cancellation of a tour in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I felt there was something special about seeing the stages of Bob’s transition and also the relationships, romantic, sexual and otherwise, with the women in the film. That made Bob’s team apprehensive. With the pandemic , his manager, Jeff Rosenhe called me and told me that Covid-19 had caused the cancellation of a tour and with nothing to do at the moment, he wanted to read the script. Then he read it, he liked it and that changed everything.”

Mangold stressed that he would not take anyone’s side in the story, so there would be no reason for Dylan to disapprove of the work. Being close to the musician’s journey in his youth also allowed us to get to know him better – and James took the liberty of defining Bob as a “dreamer” and a “reserved” person.

A complete stranger

Premiering in Brazil on February 27, 2025, A Complete Unknown portrays the journey of Bob Dylan (Timothée Chalamet) to meet the singer Woody Guthrie (Scoot McNairy) during a show a Newport Folk Festival since 1965.

In addition to bringing the legendary musician to life, Chalamet will also sing songs that appear in the film. The information was confirmed by the project director, James Mangold (Logan, Ford versus Ferrari).

Another important name confirmed for the project is that of Edward Norton. Replacement Benedict Cumberbatchwill give life Pete Seegeran important name on the folk scene who also influenced Dylan at the beginning of his career.

It also brings the cast Boyd Holbrook (AS Johnny Cash), Monica Barbaro (Joan Baez), Elle Fanning (Silvia Russo) AND Nick Offerman (Alan Lomax).

+++ READ MORE: Bob Dylan addresses rumors that he is banning people from watching it

+++ READ MORE: Damon Albarn’s (Blur) harsh opinion on Bob Dylan banning cellphones at shows

+++ READ MORE: Bob Dylan despises TV series and says he prefers to meditate and pray

Source: Terra

Earl

Earl Johnson is a music writer at Gossipify, known for his in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the industry. A graduate of USC with a degree in Music, he brings years of experience and passion to his writing. He covers the latest releases and trends, always on the lookout for the next big thing in music.