“Believe It or Not”: Timothée Chalamet Reveals Dramatic Body Transformation To Play Bob Dylan in ‘A Complete Unknown’

There is a simple reason Timothée Chalamet is up for an Oscar thanks to his role as Bob Dylan in A Complete Uknown—Dedication. Chalamet has extensively commented on the preparation the role entailed, and he added to it in a recent interview on NPR.

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In addition to learning how to walk, talk, play, and sound like Dylan, Chalamet had to capture his look. At face value, the two do resemble each other to an extent, though Chalamet confirmed that some extra work needed to be done. Specifically, Chalamet needed to gain weight and a lot of it.

Timothée Chalamet on His Bob Dylan Transformation

In his NPR interview, Chalamet told host Ailsa Chang, “I’ve turned over every stone. I did all the work, like you just described, physicality, behavior-wise.” “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,” added Chalamet.

This isn’t the first time Chalamet has discussed his physique and the extra work that has followed with it. In an interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, Chalamet said, “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,’” and “I had an agent that called me and said, ‘You got to put on weight,’ basically — not aggressively, but you know.”

Chalamet has clearly been able to transcend these physical limitations, and it shows in his most recent role. Regarding his dedication on A Complete Unknown, Chalamet told NPR the movie, “Turned into a five-year process where I feel I’ve almost turned over every stone available to me now.” Per Timothée Chalamet’s comments, it seems the 29-year-old movie star put his all into this role in order to get a shot at Hollywood’s biggest honor. And he has that shot, as Chalamet is up for Best Actor in A Leading Role at this year’s Academy Awards.

Watch the 97th Academy Awards on March 9 to see if Timothée Chalamet takes home his first-ever Oscar.

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