Bob Dylan biopic starring Timothée Chalamet, Edward Norton, Elle Fanning films in Cape May, New Jersey
CAPE MAY, N.J. (CBS) -- What movie is filming in Cape May, New Jersey this week? It's "A Complete Unknown."
In all seriousness, it's the Bob Dylan biopic starring Timothée Chalamet along with Elle Fanning, who plays a character based on the late Dylan muse Suze Rotolo; and Edward Norton, who's playing folk artist and Dylan mentor (and critic) Pete Seeger.
Multiple streets in the Jersey Shore destination are filled with historic cars and people in 1960s outfits for the film. Cape May is one of multiple New Jersey towns taking on the role of Newport, Rhode Island, where Dylan made music history when he played electric guitar at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival.
Local coffee shop Coffee Tyme on the Washington Street Mall posted about the film shoots on Facebook - and even got a picture with Norton.
The coffee shop later shared that Norton ordered a vanilla chai with three shots of espresso.
Filming is expected to take place every day this week including Friday.
Others have shared that Chalamet and Fanning have been spotted on set as well on the back of a motorcycle. A few social media commenters who said they visited the set claimed they were told it was not Chalamet, but a stunt driver, on the motorbike.
It looks like Chalamet and Fanning were on the motorcycle for shots like this one, from musician Juliette Reilly.
What happened at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival?
According to legend, the 1965 Newport Folk Festival is where Bob Dylan broke out an electric guitar and began to play, drawing scorn from some in the crowd and even Seeger.
It was a traditionally acoustic event and some thought Dylan's decision to break out the electric guitar strayed too far into rock 'n' roll.
According to a handwritten letter from Seeger to Dylan – which is showcased in the Bob Dylan Center – Seeger said he was "furious at the distorted sound – no one could understand the words of 'Maggie's Farm.'"
"They said I shouted, 'If I had an axe I'd cut the cable' and I guess that is what got quoted. My big mistake was in not challenging from the stage the foolish few who booed," Seeger wrote. "I shoulda said, 'Howling Wolf goes electric, why can't Bob?' In any case, you keep on – Best, Pete," the letter concluded.
The Bob Dylan Center's director, Steven Jenkins, told CBS News' John Dickerson in 2022 that the letter showed "the elder statesman folkie coming to terms with what his protégé was doing."
