Timothee Chalamet Learned To Play Like Bob Dylan on a $200 Yamaha Guitar

You don’t nab two Academy Awards nods for Best Actor before your 30th birthday without putting in the work. The 29-year-old New Yorker has gained almost universal acclaim for his portrayal of Bob Dylan in the biopic A Complete Unknown. Going full method, Chalamet performed 40 songs in the film. Not content to merely sing, he also learned to play guitar for the part. The actor’s “guitar coach” recently opened up about his learning process.

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Timothee Chalamet “Did The Most Humble Thing”

After landing the title role in A Complete Unknown, Timothee Chalamet showed up to guitar teacher Larry Saltzman’s home ready to learn.

“When he first came over we used my guitar. I told him, ‘Show up without a guitar. I have a couple of guitars for us.’” Saltzman told MuisRadar during a recent interview.

Afterwards, Saltzman said, Chalamet headed to Guitar Center on West 14th Street. The Dune actor showed up to his next lesson with a $200 Yamaha acoustic guitar.

“[And] you know what? It was very playable and sounded good,” said Chalamet’s instructor, who has toured with Simon and Garfunkel.

Saltzman added, “I loved that he showed up with a $200 guitar. He didn’t show up with a $2,000 guitar and he could have. I just loved that he did that. It’s humble.”

[RELATED: Listen to Two Full Bob Dylan Songs Performed by Timothée Chalamet from the Upcoming ‘A Complete Unknown’ Soundtrack]

It Took Four Years

Initially, Larry Saltzman thought he was signing up for an intensive four-month course with Timothee Chalamet. Due to delays, four months turned into four and a half years. And according to Saltzman, the additional time meant “everything.”

“[It’s] a whole lot different ball game between playing for four months or four and a half years,” the guitarist told MusicRadar. “I don’t know what would have happened after just four months.”

That’s not to say Chalamet wasn’t a “fantastic student,” however. “[He] did well from the very beginning but just the volume of songs, chipping away at it for the four and a half years turned out to be a blessing and made I think what you see in the film doable,” Saltzman said.

Featured image by Rob Latour/Shutterstock