Don Puglisi, based in Detroit, who has performed his tribute act Don Dylan for the last five years
What did you think of Chalametâs performance in the trailer?
I thought it was good. And what I thought was good about it was he split the difference between the caricature of [puts on an extremely Bob Dylan voice] hyuuhâhe split the difference where you really hear the performance and didnât hear the caricature. I kind of wish Chalamet looked a little more like him, telling you the truth.
Any particular Dylan songs youâre keen to hear in the film?
âMasters of Warâ would be a great one; âWith God On Our Sideâ, which I think is really my favorite song of his and a lot of people donât know. âVisions of Johannaâ would be amazing. [And] I want to see him and Joan Baez, [folk singer and Dylanâs on-off girlfriend]. Iâm really looking forward to that drama.
Bill Lennon, whoâs performed his act The Bob Dylan Story since 2016, and made a cameo as Dylan in a Deep Purple music video
What did you think of the trailer?
I think the song theyâve chosen is a really interesting one. [âA Hard Rainâs a-Gonna Fallâ] is obviously a folk song, and his voice is therefore quite exposed, because itâs just him and the guitar. And I think it sounds really, really good. At that time, Dylan was quite unschooled on the guitar [and] sounded quite raw. And he captures that really well. I canât wait to hear some of the other stuff. It would be interesting to see how he handles a song like âDonât Think Twice, Itâs All Rightâ, because thatâs got some quite fast fingerpicking in it.
Do you think thereâs a good physical resemblance?
Especially when heâs got the shades on, itâs almost uncanny. I really like the way that when the camera pans to his profile when heâs singing, heâs got that intensity but [also the] boyish shyness of Dylan at that time.
How do you approach Dylanâs one-of-a-kind voice?
Youâve got to be a bit careful, because if you go for it too much, you can end up sounding like a parody. When I first started, I probably tried too hard. Now Iâm more into getting the phrasing right, because Dylan has got a really unique way of phrasing his lyricsâitâs very conversational. Once youâve got the phrasing, every now and again you can throw in a nod to that nasal twang.
Did Chalamet handle it well?
I donât think anyone is ever going to sound exactly like Bob Dylan. With him, I think if I were to shut my eyes and listen, I would know that it wasnât Dylan. But itâs certainly one of the better impressions Iâve heard over the years, if not the best. Itâs about as close as youâre gonna get.