Timothée Chalamet wouldn’t have won his own lookalike contest last night (December 13) after pulling off a shocking hair transformation on the red carpet.
The 28-year-old actor stepped out for the New York City premiere of A Complete Unknown, James Mangold’s Bob Dylan biopic where he stars as the legendary singer-songwriter, and embraced “method dressing” under long blonde bangs.
Instead of sporting his usual long floppy curls, Chalamet channeled his inner Dylan, recreating the outfit and hairstyle the now 83-year-old sported at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival.
Just like the “Blowin’ in the Wind” singer, Chalamet layered a black leather jacket over a red flannel shirt and black denim pants. He also added a gray plaid scarf, a blue beanie, and the blond side swoop hair.
The Wonka lead flashed a little smize as he headed into the theater for the movie screening loosely based upon the 2015 novel Dylan Goes Electric! Newport, Seeger, Dylan, and the Night That Split the Sixties by Elijah Wald.
While the entire ensemble — hair, clothes, and all — was an obvious replica of one of Dylan’s iconic looks, Chalamet subtly paid homage to the artist for months with a thin mustache and goatee.
According to Chalamet, this facial hair has inspired a whole new realm of possibilities when it comes to future roles. In a recent conversation with Stephen Colbert on The Late Show, the Dune star joked he may even play Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson next.
“I got a little somethin’ now,” he said, referring to his stache. “The first time I was on here, I hadn’t hit puberty. Now my voice has changed and, you know, I’ll probably play The Rock in his next biopic.”
But if the role prep for playing The Rock is anything like it was for Dylan, Chalamet is looking at a few years before getting behind the camera.
Between learning to play the guitar and understanding his childhood, the Call Me By Your Name actor spent about six years studying everything about the “Like A Rolling Stone” vocalist.
Speaking with the AP about how he began his character research, Chalamet admitted he studied and searched through Dylan’s old press conference clips after having been approached with the opportunity in 2018.
“Weirdly, it was the press conferences,” he explained. “I just went up YouTube and before songs popped up, the San Francisco press conference popped up in ’65.”
D.A. Pennebaker’s documentary Don’t Look Back was helpful in Chalamet’s preparation, too. “That was a Bible to me on this,” he said of the 1968 film. “I love, love, love that film. I love music documentaries.”
Chalamet is nominated for Best Actor in a Motion Picture — Drama at the 2025 Golden Globes.
A Complete Unknown hits theaters December 25.
