Biopic of Bob Dylan starring Timothée Chalamet, Edward Norton and Elle Fanning in Cape May, New Jersey

CAPE MAY, NJ (CBS) — What movie is shooting 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 late Dylan muse Suze Rotolo; and Edward Norton, who plays folk artist and Dylan mentor (and critic) Pete Seeger.

Actors dressed as 1960s police officers stand next to vintage cars on the set of ‘A Complete Unknown,’ the Bob Dylan film shot in Cape May, New Jersey.

Coffee time

Several streets in the Jersey Shore destination are filled with historic cars and people in 1960s outfits for the movie. Cape May is one of many New Jersey cities taking on the role of Newport, Rhode Island Dylan made music history when he played electric guitar at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965.

Cape May, New Jersey is all decked out to film the Bob Dylan film ‘A Complete Unknown’. The Jersey Shore destination takes on the role of Newport, Rhode Island, where Dylan shook up the world of folk music by playing electric guitar at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival.

Coffee time

Local coffee shop Coffee Tyme on the Washington Street Mall posted on Facebook about the filming – and even took a photo with Norton.

The coffee shop later shared that Norton ordered a vanilla chai with three shots of espresso.

Coffee time

Filming is expected to take place every day this week, including Friday.

Others have said Chalamet and Fanning were also spotted on set on the back of a motorcycle. A few social media commenters who said they visited the set claimed they were told it wasn’t Chalamet, but a stunt rider on the motorcycle.

The Bob Dylan character in ‘A Complete Unknown’, possibly played here by a precision driver on his motorcycle.

Coffee time

It’s possible that Chalamet and Fanning were on the motorcycle for shots like this one in musician Juliette Reilly’s linked video.

What happened at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival?

Legend has it that the 1965 Newport Folk Festival is where Bob Dylan pulled out an electric guitar and started playing, drawing scorn from some in the crowd and even Seeger.

It was a traditional acoustic event and some felt that 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 – so on display at the Bob Dylan Center – Seeger said he was “furious about the distorted sound – no one could hear the words to ‘Maggie’s Farm.’”

“They said I shouted, ‘If I had an axe I’d cut the cable,’ and I think that’s what was quoted. My big mistake was not challenging the foolish few who booed from the stage,” wrote Seeger. “I should have said, ‘Howling Wolf goes electric, why can’t Bob?’ Anyway, keep going – Best, Pete,” the letter ended.

Bob Dylan Center director Steven Jenkins told CBS News’ John Dickerson in 2022 that the letter showed “the elder statesman coming to terms with what his protégé was doing.”