Bob Dylan calls Timothée Chalamet 'a brilliant actor' ahead of 'Complete Unknown' biopic

Bob Dylan is weighing in publicly for the first time on an upcoming biopic set to dramatize his early career.

The notoriously reclusive singer took to X to signal (albeit lukewarm) support on Wednesday. "There’s a movie about me opening soon called A Complete Unknown (what a title!). Timothée Chalamet is starring in the lead role. Timmy’s a brilliant actor so I’m sure he's going to be completely believable as me. Or a younger me. Or some other me," he wrote in a post.

"Floored. I am so grateful. Thank you Bob," Chalamet responded with his own post on X Thursday.

"A Complete Unknown," which hits theaters Christmas Day, will test both Chalamet's acting and singing chops. The "Dune" star is set to ape Dylan's legendary raspy vocals himself, a feat many stars shy away from. Rami Malek, for example, did not sing as Freddie Mercury in "Bohemian Rhapsody" and Jennifer Lopez lip-synced for the 1997 biopic of slain Tejano star Selena.

However, a recent spate of films dramatizing the lives of some of the music industry's leading men may be setting a new trend. Jeremy Allen White announced earlier this year he would do his own singing in "Deliver Me From Nowhere," an upcoming Bruce Springsteen biopic, and Austin Butler lent his voice to Elvis in Baz Luhrman's 2022 blockbuster about the star's life — though it was often blended with other vocals.

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"A Complete Unknown" is the latest project from director James Mangold, who was also behind the Johnny Cash biopic "Walk the Line," which earned both Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon Oscar nominations. Witherspoon and Phoenix each did their own singing for the film, incidentally.

Dylan is another subject altogether though. An icon amongst icons, Dylan is the musical poet laureate of his time. With songs like "The Times They Are A-Changin" and "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall" Dylan wrote his way into the musical and historical cannon, his music becoming the soundtrack to a counter-culture and civil rights movement.

Chalamet himself expressed awe at the task in a Nov. 11 interview with Apple Music's Zane Lowe. "I'm now deep in that church of Bob," Chalamet said, going on to call himself "a humble disciple."

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Chalamet also revealed in the interview that he had never met Dylan, and his closest contact had been seeing him live. Asked if he ever received a note from the 83-year-old singer, Chalamet joked, "That would be the least Bob thing ever."

Dylan approved the script and added a few lines, Chalamet revealed. "It was the most unique challenge I've taken on," he said of playing the folk icon.

The movie does not follow Dylan's entire career or life — in particular, because it covers a live subject and one who is still out in the world performing — instead chronicling his rise to fame in New York in the leadup to the Newport Music Festival.

"The film's taken from Elijah Wald’s Dylan Goes Electric – a book that came out in 2015," Dylan wrote in his Wednesday post on X. "It's a fantastic retelling of events from the early '60s that led up to the fiasco at Newport. After you’ve seen the movie read the book."

"A Complete Unknown" also stars Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez, Dylan's one-time love interest and co-writer and Boyd Holbrook as Johnny Cash.

Contributing: Brendan Morrow

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Timothee Chalamet reacts to Bob Dylan's stamp of approval for biopic