Joan Baez reveals true opinion on ‘A Complete Unknown’: “It’s a fun movie”
Folk icon Joan Baez revealed that she saw the Bob Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown, at the cinema and described it as a “fun movie” despite noting that it contained a smattering of inaccuracies.
The film tells the tale of Dylan’s early years in New York after he moved from Minnesota to Greenwich Village to reinvent himself. Within the space of five years, which is the timeframe of the movie, his life has changed dramatically as he becomes a huge star.
Notably, the film focuses equally on his relationships with Baez, portrayed by Monica Barbaro, and Suze Rotolo, who is played by Elle Fanning and whose name is changed to Sylvie Russo in A Complete Unknown.
In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Baez explained how she wasn’t consulted during the movie’s making but personally reached out to talk with the cast, explaining, “Are you kidding? I reached out to them, to the actors: ‘Would they like to talk to me?’ So, Monica called, and then Ed Norton. They both had long conversations with me.”
Baez was also nonplussed about the factual inaccuracies in the movie, instead, complementing A Complete Unknown on capturing the essence correctly, sharing, “People in my camp, they’re outraged, and they’re fact-checking. And I said, ‘Don’t bother.’ It’s a fun movie. Certainly got a feeling of the Village, but I never lived in the Village. The only time was that short period of time with Bob. And it wasn’t the Chelsea Hotel, it was the Earle. But details, details, see what I mean?”
The singer-songwriter then said she was “pleased they were getting the feeling right”, described the music as “brilliant” and praised Timothée Chalamet for doing a “good job” as Dylan despite being “a bit too squeaky clean.” She then referred to Dylan as “the unwashed phenomenon.”
On Barbaro’s performance as her, Baez had nothing but niceties to say, adding, “She worked like mad to get it right. She even had this down [kneads her fingers together]. Dumb things like my nervous tic. I saw her at a press thing and called her and said, ‘Is that something you do, or is that something you picked up for me?’ And she said she had picked it up from watching me.”
A Complete Unknown was released in cinemas on Christmas Day in 2024 and earned eight nominations at the Academy Awards, including for ‘Best Picture’. Barbaro’s portrayal of Baez also earned her a nod in the ‘Best Supporting Actress’ category.
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