Press tours can take you many places as a celebrity. Zendaya hung out with tennis pros for Challengers, and Margot Robbie recreated Barbie’s best looks at every single event.
When Austin Butler played Elvis, he went to Graceland and met with the Presley family. When Timothee Chalamet was promoting his Bob Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown, he appeared on ESPN’s College Gameday.
In terms of press tours, Chalamet is going double platinum. Sure, movie stars are normally thrust into press interviews with the actor starring alongside them…but not for the Wonka star.
A Complete Unknown — where he plays leading man Bob Dylan — is expected to be another notch in his already successful career. And the film’s promo has been anything but traditional.
From going on Pat McAfee’s College Gameday show and stunning viewers with his genuine football knowledge…to cosplaying as a funny version of Bob Dylan during the premiere, this press junket has been anything but biz as usual.
If you haven’t been following along, here’s a brief overview of all the crazy things that have happened on this tour so far.
The Lookalike Competition
We really must start with the Timothee Chalamet Lookalike Contest, which was held in New York City on October 27. Throngs of Chalamet dupes crowded around Washington Square Park to prove they were the Chalamet lookalike.
It was the first of many “Lookalike Contests” — and Timmy made them memorable by showing up as himself. Now, the likes of Zayn Malik, Jason Kelce, Glen Powell, and more have had honorary lookalike competitions.
The event was so heavily populated that the police showed up, awarding the winner with a $500 fine. Timothee offered to pay for the fine, and eventually ended up meeting the winner on this press tour.
The Minnesota Trip
The internet scoffed as Chalamet headed to none other than frosty Minnesota for the meat-and-potatoes of the press tour.
Why there? They wondered. Even if Bob Dylan was born there…
Dylan hails from Duluth, Minnesota, and attended the University of Minnesota for two years. Chalamet — who’s immersed himself the character — took time to visit the same university and endear himself to the Midwesterners.
So, he surprised the marching band and took as many photo opps as needed. He took a tour of the school, strolling the halls like Dylan did.
He held a local screening for media, students, and fans. He met his lookalike.
He went on Pat McAfee’s College Gameday show and literally broke the internet due to his extensive football knowledge.
A huge part of the weekly segment is that commentators will pick their winners for each game that day. Not only did Chalamet back up his reasoning with lots of knowledge, but he got most of his picks correct.
And while Timothee was already a beloved heartthrob, the heterosexual male community started to see the vision. Later Timothee joked to Entertainment Tonight,
“The Bob Dylan movie approached me five years ago and my hope was, okay, I’m gonna shoot this movie and then in the promotional run I’ll be able to pivot to ESPN.”
The Bob Dylan Cosplay
So much has happened with Timothee in 2024 that it’s hard to keep track. His relationship with Kylie Jenner’s still thriving, Dune Part 2 where he stars alongside Zendaya and Austin Butler released, the lookalike contest, the Minnesota trip, I could go on.
Over the December 13, 2024 weekend, A Complete Unknown premiered in NYC. Timothee showed up with a blonde fringe haircut, blue beanie, and leather jacket.
It was an ode to Bob Dylan himself, who showed up in an identical outfit to the 2003 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Masked and Anonymous. Ah-mazing!
The Theo Von Podcast
But he’s not finished! Timothee’s also making headlines for talking about his sister Pauline’s new baby.
Yes, Timmy is a new uncle after Pauline and Rhys Raiskin recently welcomed their first child — baby girl.
He confirms as much on Von’s podcast, and even implies that they live in a French forest for absolutely no reason.
It’s yet one more charming example of how Timothee’s press tour has taken so many unexpected turns…but I can’t wait until the movie comes out on December 25 so I can critique his Dylan impression.
In the meantime, watch the A Complete Unknown trailer, starring Timothee Chalamet and Elle Fanning here: