“I’m making mistakes in the guitar a little bit but I went home and wept that night. It’s a song I’ve been living with for years and could relate to deeply”: Timothée Chalamet on playing guitar in the Bob Dylan biopic – and the song that made it all click

Left-Timothee Chalamet is seen on location for the Bob Dylan biopic titled 'A Complete Unknown' on March 24, 2024 in New York City; Right-Bob Dylan plays a Fender Stratocaster electric guitar through an Ampeg amplifier while recording his album 'Bringing It All Back Home' on January 13-15, 1965 in Columbia's Studio A in New York City, New York
Left-Timothée Chalamet; Right-Bob Dylan in 1965 (Image credit: Left-Gotham/GC Images; Right-Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

Timothée Chalamet is set to transform into Bob Dylan in the highly-anticipated James Mangold-directed biopic, A Complete Unknown. The Hollywood A-lister will portray Dylan as the 19-year-old musician who descended upon New York trying to make a name for himself, up until the time he shocked the music world by going electric.

As part of the role, Chalamet had to learn guitar – but not only that, he had to learn the nuances of Dylan’s playing and his distinct approach to the instrument.

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Janelle Borg

Janelle is a staff writer at GuitarWorld.com. After a long stint in classical music, Janelle discovered the joys of playing guitar in dingy venues at the age of 13 and has never looked back. Janelle has written extensively about the intersection of music and technology, and how this is shaping the future of the music industry. She also had the pleasure of interviewing Dream Wife, K.Flay, Yīn Yīn, and Black Honey, among others. When she's not writing, you'll find her creating layers of delicious audio lasagna with her art-rock/psych-punk band ĠENN.