Timothee Chalamet Nailed Bob Dylan’s Voice

I as soon as did a quick Bob Dylan impression at one among my neighborhood bars in New York Metropolis. The bartender, together with his again to me, did not flip round to ask, sincerely: “Are you doing the Swedish Chef?” I used to be going for a string of jumbled phrases spoken with sufficient bounce to be convincing as Dylan, as a substitute I apparently landed on a gibberish Muppet.

I considered this after seeing Timothee Chalamet as Dylan in A Full Unknown, a biopic that shouldn’t be considered a historic lecture however as only one interpretation of a younger musician — a storyteller — whose rise to fame each appeared predestined and completely startling to each himself and the folks round him. Dylan’s cadence of talking and singing has been mimicked by many and the truth is that anybody doing an impression of him is doing solely that: an impression. Chalamet’s model is clearly well-studied, practiced, earnest and meant to help Dylan’s on-screen identification, not distract from it.

I am not a linguist, however I imagine I do know one thing about the way in which Dylan speaks, seeing as I additionally hail from the quasi-North Nation. We each grew up on the Nice Lakes in cities that after boasted industrial glory, the place winters are unforgiving, summers do not final very lengthy and Canada is a spot you’ll be able to virtually throw a rock at and hit. There’s a flat, nasally high quality to our vowels — mine is extra prevalent once I’m drained or had a drink, although apparently any a couple of and it turns into Swedish Chef-like. Take the phrase “ballad” for instance, as in “Ballad of a Skinny Man.” Or the phrase “how does it really feel?” from “Like a Rolling Stone.” The quick “a”  and “e” sounds come out strongly and swiftly — not even Dylan’s phrases and the way in which he pronounces them will wait so that you can catch up. Higher get on the practice.

Watch a Trailer for ‘A Full Unknown’

Dylan has a way more rubbery means of delivering his phrases than I do — his sentences sounds just like a bike engine revving up, stretching from low to excessive and again once more. His lips and mouth do not transfer a lot because of these flat vowels — so flat it generally feels like somebody’s bought half his nostril pinched whereas he is singing.

Timothee Chalamet’s Strategy

None of this can be a notably simple factor to convey as an actor, a lot much less one who grew up in Manhattan and spent summers in France, two locations the place the folks decidedly do not sound something like midwestern Minnesota boys.

However Chalamet isn’t solely an expert, he is a pupil to his character. He was loaned particular early recordings of Dylan from across the time of his transfer to New York Metropolis in 1961, unreleased to the general public and extremely coveted by Dylan students, and I may state with full confidence that he and I attended the identical Dylan live performance final fall in Brooklyn, the place an acquaintance of mine sat instantly behind him. He was enthralled the whole present, but in addition frolicked earlier than it started chatting with fellow followers in his row. In a current video clip he posted to social media, he will be seen gesturing and gyrating in public whereas singing alongside to 1966’s “Visions of Johanna,” a tune that doesn’t seem in A Full Unknown. The purpose being: Chalamet has carried out the analysis after which some, and is not afraid to get bizarre with it.