Woody Guthrie, a singer-songwriter and one of Bob Dylan's biggest music inspirations, is played by Scoot McNairy in the new biopic A Complete Unknown.

With the recent release of the Timothée Chalamet-starring Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown (soon to premiere in the UK), renewed interest has been expressed in Dylan's idol: folk music legend Woody Guthrie and the influence the political firebrand had on Dylan's own songwriting.

The Bob Dylan Center and Archives in Tulsa played a major role in making sure the look of the film was as authentic as possible.

As folk musician Woody Guthrie laid on his deathbed, Bob Dylan handed his gifted harmonica back to Guthrie to signify his departure from the folk genre, as depicted by Timothée Chalamet and Scoot McNairy in the new biopic movie about Dylan,

Read about the life and career of musical legend Bob Dylan. Discover his upbringing, life in music, and iconic career as one of history’s best-selling musicians.

The Woody Guthrie connection is developed in the movie. Dylan goes to visit Woody in New Jersey where he was institutionalized suffering from Huntington’s disease, a neurodegenerative condition. Bob sings “Song to Woody” a song he wrote. Because of his condition, Woody can’t speak but he pounds the wall, in appreciation I thought.

A Complete Unknown article by Doug Collette, published on January 10, 2025 at All About Jazz. Find more Film Review articles

Timothée Chalamet delivers an amazing performance as young Bob Dylan in James Mangold’s “A Complete Unknown,” which chronicles 19-year-old Dylan’s arrival in New York — after hitchhiking from Minnesota in 1961 — and his rapid rise to fame as a folk singer/songwriter, culminating with his dicey choice four years later to transition into a rock star.

Bob Dylan's life story is being brought to life on the silver screen thanks to Timothée Chalamet and A Complete Unknown, introducing the singer and his work to a whole new generation. The movie sees Chalamet portray the soft-spoken musician during his rise to fame in the folk music scene,

Bob Dylan helped inform this iconic Simon and Garfunkel track, but the end results ultimately "horrified" songwriter Paul Simon.

What came before him informed his writing—traditional folk songs, blues, and country music. You don’t end up with Bob Dylan without Woody Guthrie or Little Richard. The artists below stand on the giant shoulders of Dylan. And like him, they’ve ...