Timothée Chalamet Wants His Forthcoming Portrayal of Bob Dylan to Be On Par with Austin Butler’s Famous Elvis Presley Performance

Welcome to the \201cmusical cinematic universe.\201d

Timothee Chalamet and Austin Butler
(Image credit: Getty Images)
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Austin Butler didn’t just play Elvis Presley in Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis—he completely and totally embodied the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll. From the voice to the mannerisms, Butler fully became Presley, and his role in the 2022 film earned Butler his first Oscar nomination, as well as wins at the Golden Globes and the BAFTAs.

Austin Butler

Butler won a BAFTA (and a Golden Globe) for his portrayal of Presley

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Timothée Chalamet is the next actor to attempt to embody a music legend, but this time, the legend is still living: Variety reports that Chalamet will play singer-songwriter Bob Dylan in the upcoming movie A Complete Unknown, directed by James Mangold, who previously helmed Ford v. Ferrari and Walk the Line, a fellow biopic in the so-called “musical cinematic universe” about Johnny Cash. The project—which was originally called Going Electric—was announced in early 2020. (Presley, by the way, died in 1977 at just 42 years old.)

Austin Butler

Butler famously didn't just play Elvis, he became Elvis

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Elvis Presley

Presley in his heyday

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Timothée Chalamet

Chalamet is set to play Bob Dylan in an upcoming biopic

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Bob Dylan

Dylan in 1965

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Chalamet and Butler are co-stars in the recently released Dune: Part Two, and, if Chalamet has his way, they’ll be co-stars again, even if in a minor way, in A Complete Unknown. “I’ve been picking Austin’s brain nonstop, but I feel—let’s let my film come out before I’m so lucky as to get included with Austin, but he did such a phenomenal job,” Chalamet said when asked if he and Butler had conversations about playing music legends. “But I do feel prideful about that, too, because those are two artists that—I can’t speak from Elvis’ perspective, but deep in the Bob Dylan lore now, he had tremendous respect for Elvis and Sun Records.”

“I can’t wait for that film,” Butler said of the Dylan project. “I wish I could be on set every day to just watch the magic happen.”

Timothee Chalamet and Austin Butler

Chalamet and Butler starred alongside Zendaya in "Dune: Part Two"

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Timothee Chalamet and Austin Butler

Chalamet said he wants Butler to (even if briefly) reprise his role of Elvis in his upcoming Bob Dylan biopic

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Then, the pitch: “I wish you were in it!” Chalamet said in response. “There’s an Elvis character in the Johnny Cash biopic [Walk the Line]. It’s really brief, it’s very brief, but I was kind of wishing we could create a musical cinematic universe.”

Stay tuned as to whether that happens—our fingers are crossed for more Butler as Elvis, and more Butler and Chalamet together onscreen.

Rachel Burchfield
Rachel Burchfield
Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor

Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.