Everyone has been singing praises over Timothée Chalamet’s transformation into legendary musician Bob Dylan since the poster and trailer release of the highly-anticipated biopic A Complete Unknown. However, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, writer-director James Mangold shed light on another formidable folk singer who played a pivotal role in Dylan’s rise to fame.
It is none other than Dylan’s former romantic and professional partner Joan Baez played by Monica Barbaro. “Bob is the center of the movie, and all the other characters intersect, crisscross, and cross-pollinate,” Mangold told the outlet. “But what unites them all is their relationship to Bob,” he explained.
The director emphasized that each relationship in the late musician’s life had an impact on his career. Baez was the one person who helped accelerate his fame by inviting him onstage with her at the Newport Folk Festival in 1963 which became Dylan’s introduction to the world. “She recognized what an incredible writer he was,” Mangold added.
He admitted that exploring their dynamic, strangled between their professional and personal commitments to each other was interesting. “They each have their talent, and it isn’t because of the other. But how they affect, negotiate, handle, and manhandle each other is really interesting. There are big egos and strong personalities,” he explained.
Since Baez was such a crucial part of Dylan’s story, the casting had to be perfect. Mangold revealed that he was looking for someone who could hold her own as the character. “Joan came up as almost a teenager in the folk scene. I wanted someone who could intimidate Bob and could also hold her own with him. Because he’s a formidable character himself,” he said.
According to the director, Barbaro was able to bring the gravity and maturity Baez required. She was able to share the screen with Chalamet yet maintained her own lane and that triggered the tension between the characters. “That power was so much of what I thought Monica, from the moment I first saw her read for the movie, represented,” he added.
A Complete Unknown will be released in theaters on December 25.
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