Timothée Chalamet learned to play guitar and sing like Bob Dylan for “A Complete Unknown.” He also gained 20 pounds to look more like the folk music legend, he revealed an interview with NPR.
“I’ve turned over every stone. I did all the work, like you just described, physicality, behavior-wise,” Chalamet told “All Things Considered” host Ailsa Chang. “But something we haven’t really talked about, I also put on 20 pounds because, believe it or not, I was thinner than the guy.”
Chalamet is nominated for best actor for his performance in the James Mangold film, which chronicles Dylan’s arrival in New York City at age 19 in 1961 to his transformative “going electric” moment at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival.
The 29-year-old actor previously spoke about his body type in a November interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe.
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“If I auditioned for ‘The Maze Runner’ or ‘Divergent,’ things of that variety that were popping when I was coming up, the feedback was always, ‘Oh, you don’t have the right body,’” Chalamet said. “I had an agent that called me and said, ‘You got to put on weight,’ basically — not aggressively, but you know.”
Chalamet said that because he didn’t have the typical action star physique, “I found my way into these very personalized movies.” Instead of trying to transform his body to land roles in blockbuster fare, he went for roles in auteur-driven films like “Call Me by Your Name,” “Beautiful Boy,” “Lady Bird” and “Little Women.”
“Those were smaller budget, but very — I don’t know how else to put it — personable movies that started in this theater space. This is where I found my rhythm, my confidence, my flow, whatever you want to call it,” Chalamet said.
Of course, Chalamet would become one of Hollywood’s biggest blockbuster stars regardless, booking the lead role in “Wonka” and the “Dune” franchise. Between “Wonka” and “Dune: Part Two,” Chalamet starred in two films that each grossed more than $200 million domestically within eight months, beating a box office record set more than 45 years ago by John Travolta, with “Saturday Night Fever” and “Grease.”
Next up, he will appear in Josh Safdie’s ping pong adventure movie “Marty Supreme,” from A24.