The Change Bob Dylan Made to the ‘A Complete Unknown’ Script

The story of Bob Dylan is a complicated one. Like many great artists, he’s turned into more of an idea than a man. His backstory is as confounded as a folktale. There have been many whisperings and ideas thrown out, but the truth is merely a matter of perspective. And that’s how Dylan wanted it…

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Dylan has put in a lot of work to make himself mysterious. He fabricated aspects of his life from the onest of his career. Now, decades later, we wonder if he even knows which parts were made up. According to Elle Fanning–the actress who plays Dylan’s fictionalized lover in A Complete Unknown–Dylan did feel called upon to make one change to the script for accuracy’s sake. Why would he care so much about one truth in a story made up of lies? Fanning isn’t sure, but it is a noted moment of candor from a legendary musician. Find out more, below.

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The Change Bob Dylan Made to the ‘A Complete Unknown’ Script

Fanning plays Sylvie Russo a fictionalized version of one of Dylan’s real romantic partners. It was the storyline surrounding Rosso that Dylan seemed to feel the most protective of. He reportedly reached out to the director and screenwriter and asked that the name of Fanning’s character be changed. He wanted the real life counterpart to have as much anonymity as possible.

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He went further by adding in a line to the script. Amid a fight between Russo and Timothée Chalamet’s Dylan, he hurls a harsh directive. According to Fanning, that particular line was Dylan’s idea. As Russo tells Dylan she doesn’t want to come back from her Euro-trip to live with a “mysterious minstrel,” he tells her to not bother coming back at all.

“It was something like, ‘Don’t even bother coming back,’” Fanning recently said. “We know the arguments were real, so maybe he was remembering something — or regretting something that he said to her.”

It’s a refreshing admission of an ugly truth from a legendary musician. Though we’d wager many artists would want to come off as pleasant as possible in a movie about their lives, Dylan would prefer it to reflect the truth–at least in this instance.

Check out the trailer for A Complete Unknown, below.

(Photo by Val Wilmer/Redferns)