Ed Norton, Nick Offerman Filmed At Bahrs Landing For Bob Dylan Movie

HIGHLANDS, NJ — Jay Cosgrove, the owner of Bahrs Landing in Highlands, revealed many new details about the filming of the new Bob Dylan biopic, "A Complete Unknown," at his restaurant Thursday:

"They had to shoot a scene that looked like Newport, Rhode Island for the Newport Folk Festival, which was a very big deal at the time, and still is today," said Cosgrove. "This area does look a bit like the Newport coast. So we had to make our restaurant look like a diner in Rhode Island. All day long we had staff turning out omelettes and pancakes while they shot scenes."

The actor who plays Dylan, Timothee Chalamet ("Wonka," "Dune") was not on set at Bahrs Thursday — but Edward Norton was.

Norton plays folk singer Pete Seeger in the movie. He and actor Nick Offerman (Ron Swanson from "Parks and Rec"), who plays Alan Lomax, filmed on location at Bahrs all day Thursday. Cosgrove said he got to meet Norton and the rest of the cast and crew.

The entire cast, possibly Norton included, stayed Thursday night at the Molly Pitcher Inn. They also filmed Thursday night at Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank.

Filming was back in Hoboken Friday morning; they appear to be done in Monmouth County. But the movie will shoot throughout the end of May, with nearly all filming taking place in New Jersey and New York City. The production company is located in Jersey City.

The director and screenwriter of the Dylan movie is James Mangold, who directed "Girl, Interrupted" (1999), "Walk the Line" (2005), which is the story of Johnny Cash, which he also co-wrote, and the 2007 remake of "3:10 to Yuma."

"It's supposed to be very good," said Cosgrove of the new movie. "The filming was delayed because of the writers' strike, but now it's happening. They're saying it's a contender for an Oscar."

His family-owned restaurant Bahrs has been used in movies and TV commercials many times in the past.

"A Complete Unknown" tells the story of Dylan when he was 19 years old and just arrived in New York City in 1961, looking to find his hero, Woodie Guthrie. Young Dylan was embraced by the NYC folk music scene, and the film recounts his rise to popularity just before he was signed by Columbia Records.

Nobody should be surprised to see big-name Hollywood actors filming in New Jersey these days: Gov. Phil Murphy has given film studios millions in tax breaks to film in the Garden State, and he gave Netflix big tax breaks to open their planned film studio lot on Fort Monmouth in Eatontown. This Variety magazine article breaks down how NJ's film-industry tax breaks work; it's complicated to explain: Netflix to Win Big With Tax Incentive Changes in New Jersey and California

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