EXCLUSIVE: Searchlight has set five more for major roles in its Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown, directed by James Mangold and starring Timothée Chalamet: Boyd Holbrook (The Bikeriders), Scoot McNairy (Argo), Dan Fogler (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them), Will Harrison (Daisy Jones & The Six) and Charlie Tahan (Ozark).
Character details are under wraps. Pic is now in production in New Jersey.
Other new additions include P.J. Byrne (Babylon), Eli Brown (Gossip Girl), Nick Pupo (Halt and Catch Fire), Big Bill Morganfield, Laura Kariuki, Eric Berryman (Atlanta), David Alan Basche (Egg), Joe Tippett (Monarch) and James Austin Johnson (Saturday Night Live).
Set in the influential New York music scene of the early ’60s, A Complete Unknown follows 19-year-old Minnesota musician Bob Dylan’s (Chalamet) meteoric rise as a folk singer to concert halls and the top of the charts — his songs and mystique becoming a worldwide sensation — culminating in his groundbreaking electric rock and roll performance at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965.
Edward Norton, Elle Fanning, and Monica Barbaro also star in the pic written by Mangold and Jay Cocks.
Producers include Range’s Fred Berger, The Picture Company’s Alex Heineman, Veritas Entertainment Group’s Peter Jaysen, Bob Bookman, and Alan Gasmer, Bob Dylan’s longtime representative Jeff Rosen, Chalamet, and Mangold via his Turnpike Films. Michael Bederman, Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, and Andrew Rona are executive producers. Vice President of Production Richard Ruiz is overseeing the project for Searchlight along with Manager of Creative Affairs Cameron Chidsey, reporting to Heads of Production and Development Katie Goodson-Thomas and DanTram Nguyen.
“This film has been a dream for almost five years now and I am thrilled to start shooting and thankful for the support of Searchlight, Timothée and all the gifted actors who have come aboard to help create the unique world of this movie, set in such a pivotal moment of our culture and populated by such unique artists and characters,” said Mangold in a start-of-production statement. “I am also profoundly grateful for the support of Bob Dylan and Jeff Rosen in helping Jay and me and the crew with their recollections, wisdom and access to their incredible archives.”
Added Searchlight Pictures President Matthew Greenfield, “With Jim at the helm, and this phenomenal group of actors, we could not be more excited to begin production on A COMPLETE UNKNOWN, chronicling the early period of one of the greatest artists of our time, Bob Dylan.”
Previously starring in Mangold’s films Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and Logan, Holbrook has also starred in Vengeance, O.G., The Predator, The Skeleton Twins and A Walk Among the Tombstones, as well as Narcos, Hatfields & McCoys, and other series. Up next, he’ll be seen in Jeff Nichols’s acclaimed biker gang drama The Bikeriders, out via Focus on June 21.
McNairy has starred in some of the most critically acclaimed films of the last decade, including Best Picture winners Argo and 12 Years a Slave, as well as titles like Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile, Luckiest Girl Alive, Blonde, C’mon C’mon, and Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood. He’ll next be seen in Searchlight’s Nightbitch, directed by Marielle Heller and starring Amy Adams.
Known for starring in the Fantastic Beasts films, Fogler has also been seen in titles like Balls of Fury and Good Luck Chuck, as well as series like The Walking Dead and The Offer.
Breaking out with a major role in Amazon’s acclaimed miniseries Daisy Jones & The Six, based on the 2019 novel of the same name, Harrison can currently be seen starring opposite Anthony Boyle and Tobias Menzies in Manhunt for Apple TV+.
Best known for his role as Wyatt Langmore on Netflix’s Ozark, Tahan’s more recently been seen starring alongside Christian Bale in Netflix pic The Pale Blue Eye. Additional credits include films like The Land of Steady Habits, Wiener-Dog and Love Is Strange, as well as such series as Castle Rock, Gotham and Wayward Pines.
Holbrook is represented by WME, Range Media Partners and Yorn, Levine, Barnes; McNairy by UTA; Fogler by Entertainment 360 and Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz; Harrison by Gersh and Sugar23; and Tahan by Paradigm, Sugar23, and Jackoway Austen Tyerman.