Bob Dylan to Hit the Big Screen

Bob Dylan has signed on for a starring role in a film called Masked and Anonymous – his first major acting gig in fifteen years. Dylan will play Jack Fate, a blues musician whose manager helps him break out of prison to perform one last show. The film is being directed by Seinfeld producer-director Larry Charles, who scored a coup in 1999 when he got Dylan to make a cameo on Dharma and Greg. Previously, Dylan appeared in Sam Peckinpah's 1973 western, Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, 1978's Renaldo and Clara (which he also directed) and 1987's Hearts of Fire. In other movie-related Dylan news, he's recorded a song for Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. The soundtrack is being produced by T-Bone Burnett.

This story is from the April 25th, 2002 issue of Rolling Stone.