Photos: William Claxton/ “Timothée Chalamet” by Carllyttus is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

After months of anticipation and online commentary regarding actor Timothée Chalamet’s casting as musical bard and esteemed Greenwich Village pioneer Bob Dylan in the biographical drama A Complete Unknown via Searchlight Pictures, the official trailer has dropped. The clip clocks in at just under two minutes and provides a glimpse at the adapted onscreen history due in full this December. 

The movie is set in early ‘60s New York City, capturing the vibrant and growing music scene that first entranced the Minnesota teenager. A Complete Unknown showcases Dylan’s rise from folk singer to chart-topper, climaxing with the esteemed artist’s groundbreaking electric set at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. Notably, the movie serves as an adaptation of Elijah Wald’s 2015 book, Dylan Goes Electric!

Directed by James Mangold (Walk the Line, Ford v Ferrari), A Complete Unknown features other venerable musicians and critical players in Dylan’s development, including Elle Fanning as Sylvie Russo, a fictitious take on Suze Rotolo, Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez, Edward Norton taking on the role of Pete Segar, and other music greats including Scoot McNairy as Woody Guthrie, Boyd Holbrook as Johnny Cash, Laura Kariuki as Mavis Staples and more.

“You’re trying to find something that feels like [Dylan], but also feels like Timmy, meaning that if I were trying to describe the directorial goal, you want your actor to play the part, of course, but you don’t want them to lose what’s special about themselves. Almost what you want is for the actor to find the parallel aspects in them and the person they’re playing. And to get those in harmony and then apply the outward affectations that do not disturb that initial kind of groove that they found with the character from their gut, if that makes sense,” Mangold offered in a new interview with Rolling Stone when asked about the delineation between replicating a person and leaving room for a character to unfold. 

When asked about Chalmet’s vocal chops on the assignment, the director added, “I think what’s so wonderful about what Timmy is doing is that, while not answering questions about Bob, at the same time I think he does in a very poetic way, which is to suggest really empathically through his performance how one might want to make music, but one might not want to have people in your face all the time.”

“And I think in a way, Bob answers that… Timmy, who I’m used to calling Bob sometimes, answers that question. I think he walks a really beautiful line of allowing an audience to see what a joy it is for this character to make music and what pure joy he experiences in his camaraderie with other musicians and his exploration of ideas and words and music, both making it and listening to others. Where Timmy also does something really quite profound is to show you his almost genetically predisposed discomfort with what his own great achievements then bring upon him and that, in terms of people wanting things, transactional relationships, or relationships that are tainted by the immense power and talent,” he concludes.

Watch the official trailer for  A Complete Unknown below.