“Timothée Chalamet says, ‘You might not know the Bob Dylan songs I’m performing’ as he plays his three favorite Dylan tracks on SNL”
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Timothée Chalamet has received widespread acclaim and an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of the young Bob Dylan.
Timothée Chalamet, whose portrayal of the young Bob Dylan in James Mangold’s acclaimed biopic A Complete Unknown has earned widespread praise, made his debut as a musical guest on the iconic comedy show Saturday Night Live.
Chalamet, who also hosted the show for the third time, performed his three favorite Dylan songs, none of which were featured in A Complete Unknown.
“You might not know the Bob Dylan songs I’m performing, but they’re my personal favourites,” he shared with the audience during the introduction. “I’m so grateful that Saturday Night Live is still doing quirky things like this 50 years in. They’re either being really kind by letting me do this, or this is all one big prank.”
The first song Chalamet performed was “Outlaw Blues” from Dylan’s 1965 album Bringing It All Back Home, the album that marked Dylan’s controversial use of electric instruments for the first time. He was accompanied by an electric band. The performance smoothly transitioned into “Three Angels” from Dylan’s 1970 album New Morning, with English singer-songwriter James Blake providing backing vocals and playing keyboards.
The final song of the night was Tomorrow Is A Long Time, with Chalamet once again joined by Blake. Dylan first performed this track live in 1963, with a recording later appearing on Greatest Hits Vol. II in 1971. A demo from around the same period was released on The Bootleg Series Vol. 9: The Witmark Demos: 1962-1964, and Dylan also recorded a version during the New Morning sessions.
In preparation for his role as Bob Dylan, Chalamet worked with a guitar teacher, a vocal coach, a dialect coach, and a movement coach over five years. He also had harmonica lessons and was taught fingerpicking by an Italian heavy metal guitarist.
“It was really a process of osmosis,” Chalamet explained to NPR. “I don’t have categories. I don’t have a ruler with different sections of stuff that I’m learning. I try to do it all at once, and my way in was the music. I love this man’s music. These are the songs of life.”
A Complete Unknown has garnered eight Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Director.