Benedict Cumberbatch Cast as Pete Seeger in Bob Dylan Biopic ‘A Complete Unknown’

Bob Dylan is the kind of musician who has written songs that stand the test of time. So it isn’t surprising that there are many movies about his legacy. Whether it is the series of actors who played him in the 2007 movie I’m Not There or the nod to Dylan and his work in Inside Llewyn Davis from the director duo known as The Coen Brothers, he’s someone that people tend to come back to time and time again. And now James Mangold is tackling a Dylan biopic starring Timothée Chalamet with Benedict Cumberbatch as Pete Seeger.

The real Pete Seeger was a singer and folk artist who helped to inspire the artist that Dylan would go on to become. His music and activism was what kept Dylan going in his own pursuit of music and, in turn, Seeger was one of the early backers of Dylan and his work. So it was very much a mentor/mentee kind of relationship with Dylan looking to Seeger for guidance even before the two knew each other.

While at the Cannes Film Festival to premiere his latest film, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Mangold talked a bit about the film, which is titled A Complete Unknown where he revealed that Cumberbatch was cast as Seeger and talked about how working with Disney’s Searchlight Pictures has been. “Searchlight has really been providing a home for me,” Mangold said.

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The casting of Chalamet and Cumberbatch as Dylan and Seeger respectively is fascinating and the movie also includes Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez and Elle Fanning is playing a fictional lover of Dylan’s from the 60s. But it isn’t going to be easy to bring someone like Dylan to life and Mangold adding Cumberbatch as Seeger to the cast does paint more of a picture.

Bringing Dylan and Seeger to Life

It’s easy to think about the version of Dylan you know and love and understanding him. But the musician has been through many changes throughout his career. From his time as an actor to his religious era (where songs like “Pressing On” came) and more, Dylan was constantly evolving and so trying to track that in a movie is near impossible. It is why I’m Not There had so many different actors playing versions of Dylan.

Focusing the story on a young Dylan and showing his inspirations, the music he turned to, and how he became the folk singer as we know and love him is the right move. And Chalamet is a fascinating choice for the musician. Overall, each new bit of information about this movie makes me that much more excited about it and this casting is a pretty perfect one.