2024 was indeed a grand and fantastic year for films. Between Challengers tennis core red carpet outfits and Wicked offering the most colorful film marketing campaign since Barbie, the stakes for a memorable press tour were high. Despite this, Timothée Chalamet’s methods for promoting his new Bob Dylan biopic have exceeded all expectations.
From chasing high box office numbers in the age of streaming to trying to rack up nominations come awards season, there’s a lot of pressure when it comes time to promote ones film. Lately, it seems like with each blockbuster release the rollout for its promotion becomes more and more essential. Unfortunately, nowadays most press tours have managed to become a tad bit… predictable
When it comes to film promotion people have come to expect the classic late-night show appearance or viral YouTube segment. While enjoyable, it now takes more unique approaches to stick in a potential audience member’s mind. Sparking a viral moment during promo has become the best way to get people’s curiosity piqued as of late. The press run that beloved actor Timothée Chalamet has been on for the release of his film, A Complete Unknown has become something of a masterclass on exactly how to execute a successful press tour.
The Film in Question
So, exactly what movie is Timothée promoting? For around the last month, Timothée Chalamet has been on a press tour promoting his latest film A Complete Unknown. The film is a biopic based on the career of American musical legend, Bob Dylan and his rise to fame early in his life and career. Unlike most biopics, this one doesn’t span throughout Bob Dylan’s entire life and career, and instead spans over four years of his life from 1961 to 1965. This was a pivotal time for Bob as it was the period in his career where he made the shocking and unexpected switch from folk music to electric.
Regarding the connection between the film and Chalamet’s unique press decisions I’m about to list, I’ve formed a bit of a theory. It isn’t a stretch to say that Dylan’s primary audience before the film’s release was likely adults over thirty. This combined with the fact that Timothée’s predominant fan base is largely younger females gave him two audiences to win over going into the promotional portion of this film. The first were the die-hard Bob Dylan fans who likely knew little to nothing about Timothee, and were more just crossing their fingers for both an accurate depiction of the American legend, and perhaps a new actor to root for. The second audience was Timothée’s fans who likely knew little about Bob and were perhaps still on the fence about watching. With such a memorable press tour, it’s safe to say that Timothée more than succeeded.
The Lookalike Competition
There’s no way we can talk about the press tour without mentioning the appearance that started it all. On October 27th, 2024 the first ever Timothèe Chalamet lookalike competition was held. The event took place at Washington Square Park in New York City, and the turnout was huge. There were Wonkas, arrests, and chaos aplenty. Chalamet’s appearance however was the biggest surprise of it all. What had started as a running joke when Timothée was spotted walking by a poster advertising the event, ended with an appearance from the man himself. The Timothèe Chalamet lookalike contest would go on to be the lookalike contest to start an era of them. While there was no direct correlation between his appearance and promoting his film, it was an iconic event to kick off an iconic press tour.
ESPN Network Appearance
Of all the Timothee Chalamet appearances, his ESPN network visit may have been the most surprising. One of Timothee’s first stops on his press tour was appearing as a celebrity guest picker on ESPN’s “College Gameday”. While many people’s first thought (including mine) was, “What does this dude know about sports?”, he managed to shock everyone. His guest spot on the network was well spent with plenty of informed predictions on various college football teams. Playing a Midwest icon like Bob Dylan meant there was lots to prove when it came to Midwest sports knowledge. Some of his predictions even ended up being correct, scoring him a few brownie points in his favor. After this Saturday morning appearance, I’d wager to say Timothée got himself a few new dad fans.
Youtube/Podcast
Timothée also took the time to hit some more niche YouTube segments. Instead of the classic Chicken Shop Date or Hot Ones Challenge, he seemed to have his eye on specific audiences. He first stopped by to say hi and promote the film on Brittany Broski’s iconic Broski Report segment. Bonding over Soulja Boy, Soundcloud pro, Jack Skelligton, and of course, Bob Dylan, the two got quite silly together. Later pivoting in the direction of another known internet comedian, he stopped by on Theo Von’s podcast. While Timothée spent a good portion of time talking about his experience filming, they also shared some laughs over roommates, standup, and even Sex and the City. The last stop on his YouTube tour was to iconic music interviewer Naurdwaur’s channel. The two met at a Santa Monica record store to talk all things music! Timothée of course displayed extensive Bob Dylan knowledge, and even gave us a taste of his music taste. He’s a Brat fan!
Social Media Revival
Along with Timothée’s film hitting the big screen, fans were excited to see his active social media hitting their small ones. His Instagram activity from November to December was a flurry of activity. If it wasn’t photo shoots dropping it was his photo dumps from his midwestern promo tour. The photos sparked conversations online with many users fawning over the “boyfriend energy” displayed in said photos. The most honorable mention of all social media activity goes to the Instagram livestream he held in late December. What made it so memorable was there didn’t seem to be any other reason for it other than to dance and celebrate the release of his film in theaters. He proved once and for all that silly people always win.
The Bob Cosplay
Finally, I can’t end my press tour recap without recounting Timothée’s most Bob Dylan appearance of them all, his Bob Dylan cosplay! Timothée proved himself to be the silly guy final boss when he stepped onto the red carpet for his New York premiere. His look was of course a reference to a Bob Dylan outfit worn in 2003 to a screening of Masked and Anonymous at the Sundance Film Festival. Chalamet went the full nine yards even sporting a blonde wig identical to Bob Dylan’s hair at the time. The actor who is famously known to be usually sporting a smile and good humor committed to the bit hard, not cracking a smile for photos even when it came time to pose with costars. Glad to see he was committed to the role until the very end.
What Was Your Favorite Promotional Appearance?
It really ended up being a Timothée Chalamet holiday season, and by the end of the press tour, not many were complaining. Timothée truly knew his audience, well enough to make tremendous efforts to rope in those that were missing. He hit all spheres of the general public not neglecting a sports fan for a music fan or vice versa. For Timothée all potential viewers were created equal. If nothing else this press tour proved you can win almost anyone by being genuine, honest, and a bit silly.
