Timothée Chalamet: The world needs a new Bob Dylan

The world needs a new Bob Dylan for an era that has become too "cynical".

That's what Hollywood superstar Timothée Chalamet said while promoting a new biopic about the American singer, AFP reports.

Asked if he had embraced nostalgia for the 1960s when he starred as the singer in "A Complete Unknown", the actor noted the disconnect with his own generation.

"I think there's a nostalgia because in the '60s, this type of music and artists like Bob Dylan, Joan Baez or James Baldwin - there's no precedent," Chalamet said ahead of the film's premiere in France on Jan. 29.

Such artists believed "that things can change and that art can change political aspects or cultural attitudes," he explained.

"Today the cynicism is stronger. For the young American, French and global generation, the obstacles are probably even greater than in the 1960s: the environmental and political obstacles," the actor pointed out.

"It would be nice if someone like Bob Dylan came along, but there's that cynicism again. If somebody does an ethical, upbeat song, you'd think it had some 'corporate' element, that it was done in his interest," he added.

The biopic about Dylan will compete at next month's British BAFTAs, when the race for the Oscars picks up, as will "Dune: Part Two," the extravagant sci-fi film in which Chalamet also stars. | BGNES