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Timothée Chalamet’s A Complete Unknown has finally been released and the reception has been largely positive. The actor was praised for doing justice to the legendary Bob Dylan’s personality and the film currently stands at a score of 79% on Rotten Tomatoes. While watching A Complete Unknown, you will find a similarity between the film Vanilla Sky, and some of you may wrongly accuse the former of copying the latter.
Tom Cruise in Vanilla Sky (2001) | Credits: Paramount PicturesVanilla Sky features a moment where Tom Cruise’s David and Penelope Cruz’s Sofia are walking arm-in-arm down the street. A Complete Unknown has an identical moment in the film between Timothée Chalamet and Elle Fanning. But hey, no one copied anyone!
Timothée Chalamet’s A Complete Unknown hasn’t copied Vanilla Sky
Towards the end of Vanilla Sky, Tom Cruise’s David realizes that he is in fact living in a lucid dream, that has turned into a nightmare. In an elevator, a man from Tech Support reveals that David has been in suspension for about 150 years.
He learns that he has sculpted lucid dream from moments of his actual life, including a walk down the street with the love of his life, Sofia (Penelope Cruz). Here’s the moment we are talking about:
Tom Cruise and Penelope Cruz in Vanilla Sky | Credits: Paramount PicturesNow, some may believe that Timothée Chalamet’s A Complete Unknown copied this exact moment from Cruise’s film and incorporated it into their Bob Dylan biopic. However, that cannot be further from the truth. Chalamet and Elle Fanning recreated Bob Dylan’s album cover for The Freewheelin’.
a recreation of “the freewheelin’ bob dylan” album cover with timothée chalamet and elle fanning on the front, as a part of the set dressing for ‘a complete unknown.” 🎙️ pic.twitter.com/XImDB3lE7l
— Timothée Chalamet Fan (@t_chlmts) April 30, 2024As for Vanilla Sky, after David learns that the life he was living was nothing but a lie created by his mind, he realizes that everything he experienced in the lucid dream was inspired by the iconography of his youth, including “an album cover that once moved” him, aka Dylan’s The Freewheelin’.
So, in reality, neither Vanilla Sky nor A Complete Unknown copied anyone but rather paid homage to one of the legendary musician’s iconic albums.
Timothée Chalamet on playing Bob Dylan
Timothée Chalamet in A Complete Unknown (2024) | Credits: Searchlight PicturesA Complete Unknown follows the story of the earliest days of Dylan’s fame, and dare we say that Chalamet did absolute justice to the role? Playing a figure as beloved and respected as Dylan is never an easy feat as there are tons of expectations on an actor’s shoulder. So, we wonder what it was like for Chalamet to play Dylan.
In an interview (via ABC 7 News), Chalamet revealed that he filmed the musical moments of the film live. He stated, “It was important for me to sing and play it on set because it was in the spirit of the movie to do it live.”
Dylan’s life as an artist has been nothing short of an inspiration for Chalamet and this made the young actor feel connected to the man he was supposed to be impersonating.
Bob wouldn’t let himself be boxed in, which for me as a young artist, is the most inspiring. Many of the artists through American pop culture that had the balls to turn their back on what was expected of them, that moment started with Bob.
Chalamet had about five years to prepare for the role and in that time, he took it upon himself to not only do some serious research on Dylan but also learn how to play music.
He revealed on The Graham Norton Show that these 5 years allowed him to be so confident in his ability that he was able to play the music live for the film. Talk about dedication, right?
A Complete Unknown is currently in theatres.
Vanilla Sky is available to play on Paramount+.
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