EXCLUSIVE: Elle Fanning (The Great) is set to star alongside Timothée Chalamet and Monica Barbaro in A Complete Unknown, the Bob Dylan biopic that two-time Oscar nominee James Mangold is directing for Searchlight Pictures.
The film heading into production in New York this summer watches as a young Dylan (Chalamet) shakes up the music world in 1965, as he pivots to performing with an electric guitar for the first time. Fanning will play the role of Dylan’s early ’60s love interest, university student and artist Sylvie Russo.
Jay Cocks (Gangs of New York) wrote the script, with Mangold handling revisions. Dylan’s longtime manager Jeff Rosen will produce alongside Veritas Entertainment Group’s Bob Bookman, Alan Gasmer and Peter Jaysen, Automatik’s Fred Berger, The Picture Company’s Alex Heineman, and Mangold. Exec producers include Dylan, as well as Automatik’s Brian Kavanaugh-Jones and Andrew Rona.
Recognized thus far in her career with nominations at the Emmys, Critics’ Choice Awards, Golden Globes, SAG Awards, Gotham Awards and Independent Spirit Awards, Fanning currently leads the historical satire The Great from creator Tony McNamara, which returned for its third season on Hulu on May 12th. The in-demand actress previously led Hulu’s crime drama miniseries The Girl from Plainville and has also previously starred in two Maleficent films for Disney, as well as such titles as Teen Spirit, Mary Shelley, The Beguiled, 20th Century Women, The Neon Demon, Trumbo, We Bought a Zoo, Twixt, Super 8, Somewhere, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Babel.
Fanning is repped by UTA, Echo Lake Entertainment, and Hansen, Jacobson, Teller.