After months of fan speculation, the first trailer for Timothée Chalamet’s upcoming film A Complete Unknown has been released, and the internet is already surprised and impressed by what it reveals.
The trailer promises a film about Bob Dylan’s early life and career, with a focus on Dylan’s romance with his college peer Syvie Russo (Elle Fanning). She’s inspired by Dylan’s real-life girlfriend in the early 60s, musician Suze Rotolo.
The trailer features a solid minute of Chalamet singing Dylan’s “A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall,” and thankfully, his singing is actually pretty good. It’s clear it’s not the real Bob Dylan’s voice, but it’s close enough that it’s hard to complain. Director James Mangold confirmed last year that the actor would be doing his own singing in the film.
“Did Timothée sing the songs himself? If yes then incredible, it sounds so much like Dylan. Wow,” responded one Twitter user. “Uh oh. I may end up loving this,” wrote another.
It’s a relief for Chalamet fans, because since the moment the film was announced, they were worrying if the actor had finally picked a role he couldn’t handle. Although Mangold’s 2005 biopic of Johnny Cash (Walk the Line) was well-received, the first images of A Complete Unknown (released in March) didn’t inspire much confidence.
“This is just Fievel Mousekewitz,” journalist Rafi Schwartz joked. “He’s dressed like every single character in Love Actually,” said writer Tom Smyth. Some users even compared those first few images to Charlie Kelly’s terrible Dylan impression on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
Four months later, it seems like Club Chalamet’s unwavering faith might be vindicated. Chalamet has clearly put in the work, so perhaps he can keep his cinematic hot streak going.